


point break

by junmyeolks



Category: EXO (Band), NCT (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Mutants, Disturbing Themes, Light Angst, M/M, Past Character Death, Superpowers, X-Men: Days of Future Past References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 03:35:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14946845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junmyeolks/pseuds/junmyeolks
Summary: Two years ago, Baekhyun had broken his heart.Two years later, he comes back but not out of love, but for a favor.





	point break

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #: 62  
> Pairing: Baekhyun/Kyungsoo  
> Rating: M  
> Warnings: Past character death, disturbing imagery, mentions of abuse (towards mutants)  
> Author’s note: firstly, thank you to the mods for the generous extension!! huge thank yous to my friends who have heard me yelling about completing this fic for weeks and well, i did it guys! i hope the fellow prompter and readers will enjoy my baby, hopefully, you''ll get thrown on a rollercoaster ride reading this!

**_[9.16PM, Neulbom Garden Restaurant, Seoul, South Korea]_ **

 

Shell casings were littered across the dusty tiled kitchen floors, recently covered with splotches of dried blood and broken shards of glasses. Carefully walking to not topple the yellow markers and to avoid the flashes from cameras, Kyungsoo eyed the bloody crime scene.

The sight of blood secretly made him uncomfortable, despite being in the field for over six years. But Kyungsoo cannot reveal that fact, _ever_ , or he would be a supreme candidate to get kicked out of the force.

With latex gloves on, he leaned down to pick one, examining the brass jacket closely, feeling it between his fingers.

“What you got there, boss?” Taeyong, his assistant, had asked.

“Thirty-eight special bullet, 9.1mm in diameter and 1.5mm in rim thickness.” He had replied, picking at the residue left on it meticulously.

“Isn’t that commonly used in revolvers?” His assistant had bent down, settling next to him as he helped collect the six remaining shell casings, placing them in an airtight plastic bag. Sealing the bag, Taeyong passed them to Kyungsoo.

The latter nodded, taking the offered sealed evidence. “In some cases, semi-automatic pistols or carbines. Usually, these centerfire cartridges were used in most police departments in the States.”

“Oh, what are they doing here in Seoul then.” Taeyong stated, eyebrows furrowed, making Kyungsoo smile.

Standing up, he called the nearest police officer, requesting to be taken to the body.

"Collect the gun powder residue, we’ll examine it later at the lab,” he ordered Taeyong.

Kyungsoo tightened his grip on the gloves so his fingers could be fitted more snugly. There was no decaying smell in the stale air yet, indicating that the discovered corpse had passed away no more than eight hours.

The police officer gave him a grim look, shaking his head. “I’ve never witnessed such a horrible scene in my whole fifteen years of working. But then again, I’ve only been yelling at rowdy kids and signing off parking tickets.”

“You’re the one who reported this?” Kyungsoo assumed.

“Yeah, I noticed the car when I was doing my rounds and heard something coming from the inside of this restaurant, like glass breaking. I thought it was a group of teens trying to vandalise the building but boy, I was wrong.”

“You did your job in checking the building out. Most people would have ignored the noise and walked by,” Kyungsoo said to the man, receiving a grateful nod in return.

“Abandoned buildings scare people. Here, this way. I found him near the storage room.”

They both looked down at the main crime scene, the body laying, his hands and legs crooked at unusual angles. The victim was lying down on his back. He was trying to run away, his intentions being clear as day to use the storage room as cover yet was too late. Four bullet wounds, Kyungsoo had counted, one in the leg, three in the back, aimed randomly.

“Thank you.” He spoke to the officer before leaving his side.

Kyungsoo circled around the body, eyes scanning all the way to the ceiling and the four whitewashed walls, the drywall already rotting. Metal tables and unused stoves were what was only left of the kitchen and his eyes squinted at the wall behind the murdered victim.

Stepping forward, he pulled out his trusty flashlight, the light rays shining on the punctured holes present on the wall. Small, barely concealed holes, the perfect bullet sizes.

All four of them were embedded deeply in the drywall, creating more cracks and crevices. Kyungsoo knew he had to be cautious when extracting the bullets, the wall could easily collapse if it chose to.

Rummaging through his bag, he grabbed at one of the kinetic bullet pullers, a small hammer with an alloy-based handle. One by one, the bullets were removed from within the confines of the wall. This way, they wouldn’t be damaged, leading to an easier and quicker inspection.

Kyungsoo stared at the man over his shoulder, thinking he should study the body before leaving the uninhibited building.

As he crouched down to take a closer look, he traced his gloved fingers across the visible inflicted wounds. Bruises, coloured purple and almost black were blooming on his arms and at the base of his spine.

“What do you think happened to him?” A voice. Then, a white, painful to the eye, flash.

“Definitely tortured. He was beaten up repeatedly and there are signs of him being restrained, his wrists are blue.”

He paused. “Also, can you take photos of the crime scene and not me.”

Jongdae only shrugged, giving a smirk.

“It’s rare of me to see such a respected ballistics expert outside of his office so I couldn’t help it.”

“We literally worked together like two months ago.” Kyungsoo clicked his tongue at the crime scene photographer.

“Ah, the Insadong-gil case. Robbery gone wrong.” Jongdae reminisced.

Kyungsoo held the deceased's arm, lifting it up slowly.

"Name?" He asked no one but Jongdae was always prepared. The photographer had a knack for starting conversations with the detectives.

"Jung Seongwoo, 25, an employee at an elderly care centre about five blocks from here." Jongdae answered, the sound of camera shutters following afterwards.

"A social worker?"

"Apparently. Kinda strange, don't you think?"

 Kyungsoo hummed, peering at the victim. "His fingers are scorched, like he was burned. But no evidence of arson activity anywhere."

"What's your opinion, Kyungsoo?”

“I don’t have an opinion.”

“Maybe, he wasn't just tending to elderly people, maybe he was selling drugs as a side job. Or possibly, a serial killer!" Jongdae exclaimed, wiggling his eyebrows. Kyungsoo just gave him a tired expression, his reply obviously ignored.

“Don’t be silly, Jongdae.”

"Come on, let out some theories with that brilliant brain of yours."

Disregarding the comment, Kyungsoo decided it was finally to go. The scent of blood finally reached his nostrils.

Most crime scenes did not require for Kyungsoo to come since he's mostly occupied back at the forensics' lab, studying and analysing foreign ammunition. But recently, there had been more fights and deaths involving guns and rifles, increasing his workload.

Kyungsoo glanced at Jung Seongwoo, at his torn, dirtied clothing and pale skin. No one had to be a detective to see the anomaly of the situation. 

He had no shoes on, feet bare, knife-like scratches evident.

The tip of his fingers were black, his fingerprints melted away.

If he was a detective, he would say the victim had been locked away somewhere, to lose his sense of freedom, to pry him open.

 

Like an experiment gone wrong.

 

But, Kyungsoo wasn't one so he glanced away.

"Let the investigators do their job and we do ours."

 

X

 

**_[11.12AM, National Police Agency, Seodamun, South Korea]_ **

 

Kyungsoo entered the parking space beneath the federal agency building where he’s currently employed at. The slight heat comforted him after hours of working in the crime laboratory. It was always cold, sometimes too cold to the point where most considered breaching the uniform code in exchange of a thick jacket.

Setting his foot in his car, Kyungsoo took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling slowly. His heart won’t stop pounding at an abnormally high rate, cold sweat breaking out. Kyungsoo’s throat felt like it was clogged up, his palms beginning to turn clammy.

The results from the recent case shouldn’t mean anything, it usually didn’t. Kyungsoo’s job was easy: to suggest diagrams of how a crime may have been committed by visualising the original crime scene. Gunshots provided evidence of a trajectory analysis of projectiles.

Locate, collect and investigate the evidence.

That was all he had to do, no strings attached, no emotional misconduct.

Jung Seongwoo, the victim of the crime flashed in his mind, the imagery of the bullet holes that were put through his body still transparent to him.

Starting the engine, Kyungsoo began to drive, steering his car hurriedly to leave the parking area. A shaky breath escaped his lips.

Sometimes, _most days_ , he felt like a fool, like someone who wants what he can’t have and he absolutely _knows_ it. Or the other side of his foolishness, where he sees what he understands but is always too late to do anything about it. 

The scorched fingers, seemingly looking like the flames came from _within_ , was a dead giveaway, perhaps not to other people but Kyungsoo should have known, should have realised. The stab wounds on his feet was a sign as well but this was where Kyungsoo appeared as a fool of the latter.

A _mutant_ , a gifted human. Jung Seongwoo was definitely one, endowed with the power to release flames from his hands.

He would have been skeptical but the tests carried out on the deceased said otherwise and it made Kyungsoo a bit sick. Irene, the head forensic pathologist, had confirmed.

He inhaled deeply again, chewing on his bottom lip afterwards. People would think he hated mutants which was no surprise considering that majority of the population hunted mutants down.

The mutants were experimented on, their abilities put to the test, their mental capacity stretched to the max to uncover their full potential. Some died along the way, some continued to serve the government as mindless slaves while some were simply locked away.

The government had declared the locked ones as too dangerous for the world.

Meanwhile, “low-risk” mutants, deemed by the people as tamed and owning powers that could not harm anyone were permitted to continue with their daily lives. But they were aware; they were constantly under surveillance, hiding behind facades to mask their fear.

Kyungsoo had always declared that it was bullshit.

He wasn’t the majority, he didn’t, never, despised mutants. In fact, he had always admired them. Kyungsoo was just a mundane human, maybe with an uncommon occupation, but he was nothing special.

Thus, the humans who were gifted with extraordinary powers due to spontaneous mutation in their DNA had earned his fascination and respect since he was young.

Most cases he had been involved in aiding to investigate didn’t include any activity from mutants, showing that humans could do the worst things even without a special ability. Yet, the prejudice still existed, parents worrying over the safety of their children and sometimes, worried of their _own_ children.

Eventhough he was big on coexistence, he could taste something bitter at the back of his throat, like bad coffee.  

The murdered victim wasn’t associated to anyone he knew, but his nature was. The last time Kyungsoo had to deal with a mutant was exactly two years ago and it was a new experience.

No wonder he was called into the field, the case was different from the ones he had to solve, mutants still presented as a mystery to the whole progressing society.

Kyungsoo was known for his neutral standing in the issue among the employees thus his boss probably thought it was the best for him to handle the case.

After all, Irene, the head of the forensics team, was one. A low-risk mutant, with the gift to change her hair colour into every different shade of the spectrum. 

Kyungsoo strengthened his grip on the steering wheel, eyes focusing on the road while his mind floated somewhere else. Anguish and guilt filled up his whole body making his ears go red and his eyebrows furrowing.

 

Anguish because he knew Jung Seongwoo was killed because of who he was.

 

Guilt because Kyungsoo couldn’t stop thinking about someone else instead.

  

His eyes began to burn and Kyungsoo bit down on his lip hard, tasting blood on his tongue. Turning right at the junction, he stepped on the pedal, accelerating. He had to go home, he had to breathe. 

Kyungsoo wasn’t supposed to feel like this, feeling miserable and helpless all over again. He had forced himself to bury his pain away a year ago, all his tears and anger kept at bay.

He refused to spend his days nursing his broken heart again.

No more, Kyungsoo reminded himself, move on.

 

“ _Kyungsoo._ ”

 

Kyungsoo blinked, fingers clenching harder on the steering wheel. He drove faster.

 

“ _I love you._ ”

  

“Shut up,” he whispered to no one, he was almost home.

  

“ _Kyungsoo, I’m sorry_.”

 

“Shut up,” he said louder, pulling up his car at the side of the street. Looking down at his lap, Kyungsoo let his arms fall down, nails scratching the car seat.

Stop, Kyungsoo, stop, don’t be a fool again.

  

“ _You’re my world._ ”

  

“SHUT UP!” He yelled, almost ripping off the leather from the car seat.

Something cool dripped down his cheek, tears flowing freely now. Kyungsoo stared at the car parked in front of him but not really registering anything. He had always hated crying, it made him feel nothing but weak and lost. So, so, lost.

He couldn’t breathe properly, taking quick gulps of oxygen in three seconds intervals. Wiping the tears off his face with the back of his hand, Kyungsoo turned off the engine, sniffling.

 

_Baekhyun._

 

The name flashed red in his mind, capitalised and bolded. The name didn’t have a sound but it was noisy in its own way, just like the owner.

Kyungsoo got out of the car, stumbling a bit. A headache was starting to form between his temples and he took a heaving breath.

Sleep, he just needed sleep to cool down his overreaction.

The name shouldn’t mean anything to him now just as the latest case shouldn’t bother him. Kyungsoo’s task was simple, preserve and examine the evidence.

As he entered the elevator’s apartment building, just right before the doors closed shut, Kyungsoo unconsciously murmured the name, _Baekhyun_.

 

The only person he had ever loved.

 

X

 

**_[10.03AM, Berkeley Coffee Social, Gyeongnidan, Seoul]_ **

 

_“In light of recent events, another incident has been put on the spotlight, this time along the lively streets of Hongdae. Song Narae, a 32 year old cafe waitress, was found dead in her own car, parked near a former pet store. Witnesses, a couple, stated that they were walking when they heard loud bangs, referring to multiple attempts of gunshots…..”_

Kyungsoo tuned out the news anchor’s voice, rubbing at his temples. There was this constant headache located in his head, the mild pain throbbing every now and then.

The pills usually helped but he refused to depend on them everyday, be it having stuck with an annoying headache for four days in a row. He just needed a few hours of sleep on his queen sized bed and the pain will eventually disappear. 

Lack of sleep was bad for anyone. It was especially terrible for him since his employers required his brain to function 24/7 these days. The cases had been piling up, some known to the public, some kept secret to not spread more panic.

Taking a sip of the bitter coffee that he had just ordered a few minutes ago, Kyungsoo massaged his forehead and groaned.

“Too much shit,” he said to himself, too much work, his mind continued.

Kyungsoo hurriedly finished his coffee, gulping down the bitter drink before getting up. The agency was only a ten minute walk from where he was and Kyungsoo was a bit desperate for fresh air at the moment.

Working with dead bodies and regularly stuck in a laboratory required a lot of mental strength, something that Kyungsoo had always been excellent at but alas he wasn’t completely immune to it.

The streets were packed today, he noted, the people walking around bustling with loud chatters joined by vehicles honking. Seoul was a concrete jungle but Kyungsoo had always preferred noise than deafening silence. 

Crowded places were not his thing but it did have its own charms.

He smiled to himself when an old memory popped out, a silly game he used to play with someone dear to him.

  

_“Try and spot me, Soo.”_

 

_“You know I’ll lose this bet in a heartbeat.”_

 

_“Don’t lie, you know me too well so try and find me!”_

 

It was rather stupid, Kyungsoo thought to himself as he strolled along the pavement, glancing at passer-bys. He never actually knew how he always succeeded in spotting Baekhyun amongst a sea of hundreds.  

After all, Baekhyun was a master of deception and camouflage, never acting out the same personalities twice.

“What am I thinking,” he muttered under his breath. Was it seven months? Probably. It had been approximately seven months since he stopped looking for answers that weren’t there, only pushing them away at the darkest corner of his mind.

For days now, Kyungsoo convinced himself it was all because of the latest cases he’s been dwelling in.

All mutants, all dead.

Kyungsoo couldn’t help but wonder if it was related to an old investigation….

Someone knocked into his shoulder, jostling him from his thoughts.

“Sorry,” the stranger apologised softly, blush painting her cheeks. Kyungsoo shook his head to tell her that it was alright before continuing to walk straight. 

His eyes flitted from left to right to avoid bumping into people again, he didn’t want to accidentally hurt anyone. A small girl feeding a cat, an old man reading the newspaper on a bench, a couple holding hands. Kyungsoo caught sight of the uneventful scenes as he trudged on cautiously.

The National Police Agency building stood proud and tall when Kyungsoo approached the entrance. He nodded at the security guard as a greeting, entering through the glass doors when they opened automatically.

“Hello, Kyungsoo.” Irene had addressed him by the elevator, the both of them setting foot in it at the same time. Kyungsoo pressed on the 7th floor button, the doors closing before they began moving upwards.

“Hello, Irene. Had breakfast?”

“If a pack of biscuits counts then sure,” she snorted, laughing at her own remark.

Kyungsoo frowned. “I know you’re the boss but you don’t have to do everything, you know? If you don’t have time to rest then delegate your duties to us. Me, especially, I’m your assistant.”

“C’mon, Kyungsoo. You’re the one working the hardest right now, how could I give you more work? And don’t disagree, you’ve always been the modest one.”

“So you do have more work.” A statement rather than a question.

Irene only rolled her eyes, sighing. “Of course you only heard that. Yeah, I’m reviewing the Insadong-gil case from two months ago.” 

“I thought that case was closed? They found the murderer, didn’t they?” 

“I decided to open it again. I was sorting out recent reports dated to seven months ago and noticed something was amiss.”

“Like _what_?”

The elevator stopped moving, indicating that they had arrived at their desired level.

His workmate only gave a light pat on the shoulder, stepping out from the elevator first.

“I’m not sure yet, still looking into it.”

Kyungsoo followed shortly, peering at her curiously. 

“...And you will let me know right?”

“Of course. Why would I hide anything from you?”

Kyungsoo only stared. “Alright, then,” he said after a brief pause.

Irene grinned, walking away towards her office.

 

“This doesn’t add up.”

“What doesn’t add up?” Taeyong looked over Kyungsoo’s shoulder, focusing on a pile of scattered files on the table.

Kyungsoo bit his bottom lip, tilting his head in confusion. 

“The records regarding Jung Seongwoo, Song Narae and Miyamoto Sakurai, the latest victim. The readings I got from the local police department did not include the bruises and confinement strains found on their bodies. Only bullet wounds.”

Taeyong raised an eyebrow. “That’s obviously false, isn’t it? We saw Jung Seongwoo’s body in person. The injuries were clearly there.”

Flipping through the pages once again, Kyungsoo squinted his eyes.

“If we’re really tying these series of murders to a serial killer’s rampage, then there needs to be a pattern.”

Taeyong cleared his throat. “I discovered something actually. Not sure if this will change anything though.”

“Nonsense. Any miniscule piece of evidence we find builds the truth.”

“Okay, so the bullets we found in every crime scene are of the same type and produced by an unknown manufacturer. I decided to take apart the casings just in case and I found that the insides were coated with a fluorescent substance.”

Kyungsoo blinked. “Highly impossible to detect unless you used a blacklight. Where did you figure out to use one in the first place?”

His assistant bit his lip, ears turning red.

“Well, um, you’ve always told me to think outside the box. And considering all these three victims are marked as mutants, I guessed that normal bullets won’t be that easy to kill them. Since, well, they have remarkable healing speed.”

“That’s brilliant, Taeyong. Good job. Any idea what’s the material is?”

“No, I haven’t looked into it yet. I’ll try to extract the substance from the casings as soon as possible.” 

“Okay, tell me when you find out, I’m heading to Irene’s office to discuss about these records.”

“Will do, boss.” 

Grabbing the files before piling them up into a stack, Kyungsoo left the laboratory, closing the door on his way out.

 

Kyungsoo entered Irene’s office after knocking several times.

“Come in!”

“I’m not disturbing anything right?” He raised an eyebrow, spotting the distraught in Irene’s eyes.

The latter ran her fingers through her hair, the silver strands morphing into purple. Kyungsoo frowned because after years of working together, he had learned how to recognise his boss’ moods according to her hair shade.

Black resembled happiness, red showed anger and purple meant uneasiness.

Panic, fear and agitation.

“They’re coming, Kyungsoo.” She answered, biting her bottom lip.

“Who’s coming?”

Irene sighed and Kyungsoo realised her eyebags looked even more prominent. “Come here and look at this.” He set down the files he brought on her desk, taking away the folder the other was holding.

“Kim Minseok? The victim from the robbery case in Insadong-gil. What did you find, Irene?”

“The records were fabricated. It said that he was killed instantly when the burglar hit him directly on the head with a hammer.”

Dread settled in Kyungsoo’s stomach. He was about to mention the same thing, the intensity of his suspicion arising.

“Did you see the body before? Were there signs of captivity on their bodies? Or just bullet wounds?” 

She shook her head. “No, the case was assigned to a different team remember? It got transferred since we were occupied with the foreign explosives we found in Beomosa Busan Temple.”

The forensic pathologist halted her words. “Wait, how did you know that I was going to disclose on the missing strains?” 

“It’s the reason why I came to your office. The reports I received were forged as well.”

Irene’s eyes hardened, her hair slowly blossoming into a fiery red. “What the fuck? We need to find who was in charge of writing them, they’re out to get us.”

“Irene, what did you mean just now? Who’s coming? And who’s _us_?”

“My kind, Kyungsoo.”

Kyungsoo’s heart dropped, the feeling of buried sadness and seething rage bubbling above the surface of his emotions.

“Mutants? But only Jung Seongwoo-”

“No. All the deceased. Seongwoo, Narae, Sakurai and Kim Minseok. They were all mutants. All killed. All innocents.”

“How do you know Minseok is one?”

She took a deep breath. “Because I knew him.”

“ _You_ knew him?”

The other nodded, clearing her throat. “Kind of. A friend of a friend." 

“Irene, I didn’t know…”

She only chuckled, a hint of sadness underlying her tone. “I couldn’t let anyone know. You understand why right?”

Kyungsoo could only nod in compassion, putting an arm around her shoulders before pulling her in. That was when he registered that she was shaking, hugging her tighter.  

“We’ll find them, Irene. We’ll catch them and throw their asses in prison. They won’t ever have to see the light again.”

The sound of sniffling was loud in Kyungsoo’s ears as Irene cried lightly in the crook of his neck.

“The entire world hates us, Kyungsoo.” She said, her voice muffled.

Releasing his hold on the other, Kyungsoo brought his hand to Irene’s chin, tilting it up to stare into her red rimmed eyes. “You have _me_. You have our team and the entire agency knows we’re the best in our work because we’ve never been biased with any case.” 

A brief silence.

“Yeah, our team is the greatest,” she finally muttered, smiling through her tears. Pulling away from Kyungsoo, Irene hurriedly wiped her tears away, slapping her cheeks afterwards. She glanced at Kyungsoo and he was relieved when he caught sight of the sparkle in her eyes, once lost.

“Give me the reports, Kyungsoo. I’ll deal with these. These were obviously forged to hide something.” 

“Are they trying to hide the fact that these victims were all mutants?”

The implications were left unspoken but both of them knew. Someone or worse, a group was determined to kill mutants to uphold their wicked justice of freeing the world from abnormals. They had always existed, the ones against gifted humans and everyone was aware that mutants were either imprisoned or forced to work.

Blatant mass murder was nothing new as well, history dated that mutants had been hunted down constantly, burned at stake or buried alive. Kyungsoo felt sick to the core, history indeed repeated itself.

“I don’t know, Kyungsoo. But you’ll be the first person I’ll tell when I get to the bottom of this. You may go now.”

Irene’s words were final, she probably needed time alone to regain her momentum. Nodding, Kyungsoo left her office without a word.

 

X

 

Kyungsoo was drying his hair with a towel when his phone rang, the beeping tone cutting through the tranquility of the night. The screen displayed 12.15AM followed by a text, “ **Irene is calling...** ” in bolded words.

Throwing the towel away, he quickly answered the call.

“Irene?”

“Kyungsoo, please come here right now.” She sounded distressed and Kyungsoo was already retrieving his car keys from the vanity table.

“Where?”

His friend exhaled shakily, her voice low like she was telling something she shouldn’t say. “Namsan Library, third floor.” 

 _What the hell is she doing there in the middle of the night,_ Kyungsoo wondered but only grunted in reply.

“Are you safe?” He decided to ask, nothing mattered more than his friend’s safety. He heard a soft chuckle in return, hushed but free of danger. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just get here quickly.”

The phone call ended and Kyungsoo fastened his pace, locking his door before heading towards the apartment’s elevator.

It was a 20 minute journey from his residence, reaching the library easily without worrying for traffic jams or daily road accidents. Namsan Library was open till 3AM to the public, closed for a few hours for inspection and for cleaners. Kyungsoo entered the library after being let in by a security guard and checking his visit with the clerk.

Graveyard shifts were shit as Kyungsoo looked at the sleepy lady, understanding how tiring it was to keep your eyes open despite overdosing yourself on caffeine. After all, he had stayed up for four days straight once and he still struggled with ignoring the constant nagging headache.

“You have to leave by 2.50AM at the latest,” she informed with a boring drawl, lines obviously rehearsed after saying it for so many times.

“Thanks. Have a good night,” Kyungsoo replied curtly. He didn’t want to keep Irene waiting especially at such an odd rendezvous at an ungodly hour.  

The elevator doors to the third floor opened and Kyungsoo fixed the cap he had grabbed from his car on his head before stepping into the library area. Namsan Library’s third floor consisted of books ranging from political science to modern history.

_Did this place mean something to Irene?_

He continued to walk around, not noticing anyone’s presence.

And it was too quiet.

Dimmed lights hung from the ceiling and the scent of old paper lingered in the still air.  

“Irene?” He whispered as he walked around to search for his friend. Some corners were dark, void of light and Kyungsoo stayed away from those, uneasiness finally filling his whole body. Kyungsoo’s senses were on high alert, a hand in his pocket and he held onto his trusty Swiss army knife, a habit he had developed ever since he started working as a firearms expert.

He heard a rustling sound, the hairs on the back of his neck standing straight immediately. Kyungsoo spun around, his fight or flight response ready to take action.

His heart dropped.

 

“ _Baekhyun?_ ”

 

Kyungsoo was suddenly back in the dark, far away from light, from moving on.

 

Baekhyun was still as stunning as ever albeit skinnier than he was from two years ago. His hair was longer and silver now, his handsome face marred by small scars that Kyungsoo once loved to run his fingers across them, kissing them one by one during late nights - huddled together under his blanket.

Kyungsoo was tongue tied, fear and confusion settling in. He had a flurry of emotions going on at the moment but he knew one thing; he wasn’t going to start crying in front of his old lover.

The one who had left behind without any explanations, the one who had kissed him only to disappear the next.  

“Kyungsoo.” Baekhyun stared at him from beneath his fringe, his name rolling off his tongue easily, after having it whispered in Kyungsoo’s ears countless of times before.

Kyungsoo’s heart was supposed to ache at the other’s voice, a sad reminiscence of the past but it didn’t.

The warmth and love which once exuded from Baekhyun’s low voice was gone and Kyungsoo’s walls began building back again, slowly and painfully. It was cold now, cut off and unfamiliar.

“Kyungsoo,” he repeated, firm yet detached.

“I need your help.”

Clenching his jaw, he settled his eyes on a nearby table, littered with books.

“Where’s Irene?” He questioned, ignoring Baekhyun’s request. Everything was hurting and this time, Kyungsoo couldn’t push his migraine away, now in full force. He felt like he could drop dead anytime soon.

“Kyungsoo!” A familiar voice exclaimed from behind. He quickly spun around to face his team leader because Baekhyun’s dark eyes were boring into his soul, wanting to open his bleeding heart.

He wasn’t going to let a man who didn’t even bother to greet him properly after going off the radar for years get to him.

“Sorry, I had to go to the toilet. I want you-” Irene paused, peering over Kyungsoo’s shoulder. A look of surprise followed and Kyungsoo suddenly found himself facing Baekhyun again.

“I see you guys have met. Kyungsoo, this is Baekhyun. Baekhyun, Kyungsoo.”

Baekhyun smiled, a handsome one at that. Kyungsoo swallowed the lump in his throat, gazing into Baekhyun’s eyes and resisted the urge to look away.

“We’ve met.”

Irene snorted at herself. “Yeah of course you guys had, how forgetful of me.”

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow, a bit panicked at the statement. Baekhyun seemed to have noticed his inner conflict, biting back a smirk.

“It was a long time ago, Irene. Kyungsoo probably doesn’t even remember me anymore.”

“I wish I didn’t,” he accidentally spat out, cringing at his own outburst. But there was always a grain of truth in every lie.

“Oh so you do remember me?”

“Unfortunately.”

Irene only moved her pupils from left to right, detecting something off between the two males. She cleared her throat and held onto Kyungsoo’s arm.

Kyungsoo didn’t miss Baekhyun’s stare at the touch.  

“Okay, your reunion can wait later, there’s something more important at hand here.”

“Right. Is it regarding the case?”

“Yeah and we need your help, Kyungsoo.”

“ _We?_ ” Kyungsoo emphasised, arching an eyebrow. Baekhyun was already walking over to them, standing next to him, shoulders bumping. Heat simmered under his skin but he stopped himself from shuddering. He moved an inch to the right to get away.

Irene looked distressed due to problem at hand, nodding as she rubbed her palms together. “Baekhyun and I. A few others. We’re a small group, all mutants.”

Kyungsoo tasted blood on his tongue.

“How long has it been since you guys have formed this group?” He knew his voice turned hollow right there and then, trying hard not to punch something.

His coworker looked up at him but said nothing at the off-putting tone.

“About eight months,” she said softly, smiling at Baekhyun.

“Eight.”

His bitterness must had filtered through because Irene suddenly appeared nervous, tucking strands of hair behind one ear. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, Kyungsoo. We all promised each other not to tell anyone outside the group until it was time. 

She had completely misunderstood the situation, thinking that the grief and anger was directed towards her. Kyungsoo spared a glance at the man beside him who decided his shoes were a better view.  

“No, I’m not mad at you if that’s what you were implying. Do I know the others?” 

“Minseok. He was one of us,” She muttered sadly. “I didn’t know him very well but Baekhyun was the closest to him…”.

Baekhyun cleared his throat, nodding. “We started this team together. I was a fool for letting him go on a mission alone. It caused him his life.”

“Aren’t we all fools at one point,” Kyungsoo muttered, his shoulders feeling heavy. Sighing, he looked directly into Baekhyun’s eyes. They were filled with longing and sadness and Kyungsoo assumed he was still mourning for the loss of a friend.

“Whatever happened that day, it wasn’t your fault. The others in your team too.” He tried to appeal the sincerity he had in his voice to the both of them, knowing fully how painful it was to lose people close to you.

Irene smiled sadly. “Thank you, Kyungsoo.”

He only grunted in return. “So, I’m guessing your group found a lead on Minseok’s killer? Is this what I think it is? Vengeance?” 

“Kinda. But on a bigger scale. We’re gonna track the organisation that’s been murdering mutants,” Baekhyun answered in a grim tone.

“ _Organisation?_ They’re not just a bunch of hooligans teaming up for some social justice warrior bullshit?”

“Kyungsoo, you saw the forged reports and documents. Plus, the injuries sustained by the victims were definitely not of an amateur’s work,” Irene continued. 

Kyungsoo crossed his arms, thinking hard.

“That is true. If they can duplicate records and forge them, they either are a known group or there’s a mole in the agency. Or worst-case scenario, there’s both.”

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow, talking in a hush tone. “What makes you think they’re known?”

“Then how did you know there’s a mutant-killing organisation, a group with possible hierarchy and order, exists?”

“Answering a question with a question. Typical, you haven’t changed after all,” the other replied softly, biting back a fond smile. Kyungsoo’s heart thumped _hard_.

“Anyways. The agency has been running smoothly without any problems for as long as I’ve worked there. Right, Irene?”

She nodded, agreeing. “Correct, I haven’t encountered any fishy stuff till now. Unfortunately, we work in an environment where it’s normal for people to die. But what we don’t know, Kyungsoo, is what if there were other victims before?”

“Another potential fact. And there’s no way of us finding about it especially if the records are fake and the bodies have been shipped off to god knows where. Tell me about your leads.”

“We call them NCT,” Baekhyun started off slowly. 

Kyungsoo felt like he was slapped in the face but he willed down his shock. He wasn’t wrong after all, he knew it was related to _that_. The green light was on and Kyungsoo’s five senses were on the highest alert.

“It’s a theory I’ve developed years ago when I was still working at the hospital. Every few months, the body count, dead or alive, entering the I.C.U increased drastically. Some of them had burns on their hands and feet, some died while undergoing surgery.”

“But the doctors didn’t realise, right? The body count was insignificant to them because it wasn’t as drastic as you said,” Kyungsoo interrupted. Irene stared at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion but she remained quiet.

Baekhyun bobbed his head. “To me, it was. They couldn’t even trace the similarities between the victims’ bruises and injuries because they were barely there. One said she burned her hand when she was cooking, another one was under the pretense of abuse, that his girlfriend burned his face with an iron.”

“All of them were mutants, at one point, all taken against their will.” There was a bitter taste on Kyungsoo’s tongue. “Either tortured or experimented on.”

“Not all of them, but some of them were. I managed to talk to them. Didn’t ask for details, I just wanted to know if they had abilities.”

“Now, hold on a minute. Kyungsoo, how do you have so much knowledge in this? And Baekhyun, you _worked_ at Seoul hospital?” Irene asked continuously, disbelief and awe on her face.

Kyungsoo’s ears felt warm and his heartbeat began beating rapidly. Baekhyun only glanced at him briefly before chuckling awkwardly.

“You got one hell of a co-worker, Irene, he’s quick-witted. And well, I’ve stopped working at the hospital years before I met you.”

“You were there as a what? Nurse? Surgeon?”

“Therapist.” Both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo answered simultaneously while the latter bit back a curse immediately.

Before the only female among them could say anything, Kyungsoo talked first.

“We m-met at the hospital. That’s how I know him." 

“A therapist? I didn’t peg that as your choice of career,” Irene smirked.

“It wasn’t. I’ve only worked as one for eighteen months before resigning.”

“Why haven’t you told me this before? Our other friends even. Did Minseok know?”

“He did. I didn’t want to speculate rumours or give false hope to you guys just yet.”

 

That was when it clicked, the small gear in Kyungsoo’s brain turning.

 

“Is this why you needed my help _again_? Is this the only reason of coming back?”

 

Kyungsoo was in a whirlwind, his unconscious mind being thrown into the eye of the storm, his whole world crashing down for the second time. 

“I’m going.” He exhaled shakily, the headache returning. This time, like a permanent parasite stuck to one side of his brain.

“Kyungsoo…” Baekhyun faltered as he watched the other turn around, walking away. 

“Again?” Irene asked, the reply left unanswered by no one. “Wait, Kyungsoo!”

“I’ll get him, Irene. Go home first, it’s getting late.”

“I’m not going anywhere, we need him on the team.” Irene’s hair blazed red, shimmered with grey, the shade of uncertainty.

Baekhyun gave a small smile, hands reaching for her shoulders to squeeze them.

“He already is. Now go home. Just trust me, okay?”

“You guys weren’t just acquaintances, were you?” She said quietly.

Irene watched as her friend’s smile flattened out slightly, the hardened look he always wore disappearing for a brief moment.

“Yeah,” he replied, eyes full of pure sorrow, “We were more than that.”

For the first time, she saw the shield Baekhyun had been putting up all these months cracking, his buried emotions bubbling above the surface.

 

“He was my best friend.”

 

 X

 

  ** _[1.18AM, Outside of Namsan Library, Seoul]_**

 

Kyungsoo was about to start the engine when someone knocked on the car window. He sighed and groaned internally, he wasn’t emotionally prepared for this.

He was probably never ready for it anyway.

“What,” he said monotonously as the window rolled down, not even bothering to turn his head towards the visitor.

“Can I come in?” Baekhyun asked softly and Kyungsoo finally heard it, the tiredness in his voice, like threads coming off an old T-shirt’s edges.

Biting the inside of his cheek, Kyungsoo relented, unlocking the doors without a word. Kyungsoo wanted to run or fling himself of a cliff, there was no in between. Every single thing was too much, his heart wouldn’t take the next few seconds, minutes, god forbid, hours.

The moment Baekhyun planted himself on the passenger’s seat, Kyungsoo stepped on the gas, accelerating.

His grip on the steering wheel was tight, Baekhyun’s hold on his heart was quite the same as well.

Baekhyun grunted as his body was pulled backwards by the inertia, hurriedly reaching for the seatbelt.

“Keep your mouth shut till I stop.” Kyungsoo clenched his jaw, speeding up even more. The highways of Seoul were partially empty after midnight, only nightclubs and expensive bars were buzzing with crowds.

He didn’t know where he was heading, driving had helped him get over a lot of things ever since Baekhyun had left him two years ago.

Making a left turn, the tires made a screeching sound as Kyungsoo halted the car. They were parked along an empty road, the sight of boutique stores and branded shops locked shut.

“Are we stopping?” Baekhyun’s voice shattered the silence that was brewing for minutes.  

“Baekhyun.”

“Kyungsoo, I understand-”

“How long?”

“What?”

Kyungsoo took a deep breath, his voice cracking.

“How long have you been watching me?”

 A brief pause.

“...I've never really... gone away.”

“Have I seen you around then? Have I made eye contact with you, have I talked to you without knowing it was you?”

Baekhyun crossed his fingers together, shaking his head in shame.

“No. I mean, I've never approached you but you've seen me around.”

It was enough.

“Okay. Now, get the fuck out of my car.”

The other stared at him in disbelief but he knew well that Kyungsoo was serious, judging from the merciless tone.

“You're leaving me _here_?” 

The latter scoffed. “Don't pretend. You'll find a way. You always do.”

“You're not being funny, Kyungsoo.” 

“I wasn't even joking in the first place.”

“Fine, I'll leave.”

“Cool. Email the details of the organisation or what you have so far through Irene.”

“Does this mean you'll help us track down the group?”

“Of course. Those bastards need to be stopped." 

Baekhyun’s smile shone in the darkness, only illuminated slightly by the light rays from the lamp posts. Kyungsoo’s heart squeezed at the sight.

 

“I knew I could always depend on you, Soo.”

 

 _Soo_.

 

It hurt. His heart ached.

 

X

 

  ** _[Three days later, 5.45PM, National Police Agency]_**

 

Kyungsoo was in the middle of writing his daily report when Taeyong started hollering out of nowhere. He exited the tab but not before saving the document, giving his assistant an amused look as he turned to stare at him.

“You found something?”

Taeyong nodded excitedly and the other bit back a fond smile. The man was still a young boy at heart, not fazed at the dull and orderly environment the agency had created for everyone.  

“The fluorescent substance from the casings. I did an extraction and I finally know what it is.”

Kyungsoo was proud, he knew taking the boy under his wing wasn’t a bad idea.

“Well then, go on.” 

“Since we’re dealing with an all-mutants case, I decided to grab a sample of their blood. I still don’t know what the substance’s name is but we can just label it as Chemical X for now. Here, boss, look.”

He walked to where Taeyong was standing, next to the table where all microscopes were placed. One was switched on and he positioned his eye on top of the objective lines, tuning the knob to refine the focus.

That was when he saw it.

Kyungsoo raised a brow. “Chemical X is an agglutinogen.” 

“Correct. It has the ability to attack the red blood cells, trapping them in mass numbers, accumulating them.”

“Clogging the arteries and veins, killing the victims from the inside,” Kyungsoo continued, fascinated and concerned at the same time. He observed as the substance reached the cells in a matter of seconds like a claw of an animal extending towards its prey in a blink of an eye.  

“Don’t look away yet, boss. Give it a few more seconds.” 

Heeding his assistant’s words, he widened his eyes at the sudden action presented on the slide.

The accumulated red blood cells began bubbling into foam, dispersing into the blood plasma. It was like sugar dissolving in hot water, traces of the crystals gone in an instant.

He understood it now.

“This is how they go killing the mutants. Poison. Chemical X has the ability to conceal itself by dissolving itself afterwards and making us think the victims died physically through shots.”

Biting his lip, Kyungsoo nodded, agreeing to Taeyong’s further explanation.

“But why is the question. Why go through all this trouble to mask the real cause of death?” Taeyong wondered out loud but the other knew that he already answered his own question internally.

“Because these people want to be absolutely sure that they’re sending us one message,” Kyungsoo said grimly.

 

“All mutants deserve to die.”

 

X

 

He stared at his phone, one finger hovering over the screen. Kyungsoo sighed for the umpteenth time, scratching his head. The headache was back and his inner demons were battling each other more violently than usual.

Irene had called in sick for two days in a row now after having experienced food poisoning. He was in charge of the lab temporarily which wasn’t actually a big deal for him.

His major deal lied to his second duty, which was reporting back to Irene about the case they were investigating, under the agency’s radar. She was unwell and specifically informed Kyungsoo to directly report to _him_.

Baekhyun has had only one phone number ever throughout his life. The mobile service carrier he uses had been routed around several overseas servers so no one could trace him, not even Kyungsoo himself.

Kyungsoo desperately needed a pep talk but there was no one but himself. His hands were shaking, his body feeling jittery.  

 _It’s just a damn phone call, Kyungsoo, you’re not even asking him out on a date_ , he chided himself and slapped his cheek. 

Closing his eyes shut, his finger tapped on the screen gently. He could hear blood roaring in his ears and his heartbeat was increasing by the second. Putting his phone by his ear, Kyungsoo waited for his call to be picked up with bated breath.

It took Baekhyun only ten seconds to answer.

“Soo, what’s up?”

Kyungsoo bit his tongue because he almost replied with a snarky comment. There wasn’t time for him to drown in emotional turmoil. 

“I have essential info. I think I know how to track the organisation. We discovered something from the victims.”

“That’s great, Soo, I knew you could do it. You’ve always been brilliant.”

“Thanks,” he just answered dryly. “Anyways, we found that-”

“Hey, stop right there. Let’s meet up instead.”

“What, why? I can perfectly explain everything through call.”

“I don’t want anyone listening in just in case, Kyungsoo.”

“Baekhyun, you’re using a burner phone, it’s impossible.”

“Let’s just be wary, alright? You can’t trust anyone these days anymore.”

Kyungsoo groaned. “Can’t I just send you an email? I’ll even scan the evidence for you.” 

The other chuckled and the warm tone reverberated through Kyungsoo’s chest. It made him feel sick to the core.  

He couldn’t tell whether he was hating the way the familiar laugh sounded or hated himself because he felt _homesick_.

“Good one, Soo but no. I’ll text you the address details, meet you at 8pm sharp.”

“Fine.”

An awkward silence followed and Kyungsoo was ready to end the call. He didn’t know what to expect, he didn’t know what he was waiting for.

“Ah, and Soo?”

“...Yeah?”

He could practically hear Baekhyun grin across the line.

“Wear your best tux.” 

Just like that, Baekhyun had hung up on him, leaving him baffled than ever.

His phone beeped, indicating that a message had been sent.

_“Imperial Palace Hotel, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Rose Hall.”_

 

_X_

  

**_[7.46PM, Imperial Palace Hotel, Gangnam, Seoul]_ **

 

It was quite easy to spot Baekhyun even when he was angry. It was easier to just give a glare to induce a small apologetic smile from the other.

“Let go of my arm!” the lady shouted, her diamond studded earrings dangling as she shook her head in mock protest. 

“Don’t cause a scene here, _ma’am_ ,” Kyungsoo advised with gritted teeth. He pulled her arm to walk over to a secluded corner of the hotel lobby. No one was really looking at them, they were busy with their escorts and phones.  

“At least take me out on a date before you want to invite me into a room.”

“Cut it, Baekhyun. Now tell me why you decided to take us to a party instead of somewhere where no one can be suspicious of us!” He cursed under his breath, giving an unimpressed look when the lady twirled slightly in her sequined black dress.

“How did you know it was me?” Baekhyun asked, his low voice now replaced with a higher pitch.

“You know why,” he deadpanned. “And really, you chose Seulgi?” He questioned, looking at the woman Baekhyun chose to shapeshift into this time.

“Hey, she’s at home now, probably chewing on gummy bears watching those kitten documentaries she used to tell us about. This was the safest choice.” Baekhyun, well, _Seulg_ i, smiled and Kyungsoo felt a pang in his heart.

 _Us_ was still a touchy word for him. 

“She’s still working as a clerk at the hospital?”

The shapeshifter nodded before scanning his eyes around the lobby.

“Come on, let’s enter the party. I’ll explain soon.”

  

As Kyungsoo fixed his sleeves, he casually observed his surroundings with a pseudo bored expression. The stench of wealth was overwhelming, rich old men accompanied by pretty escorts and young entrepreneurs were all present in the luxurious hall.

“Tell me this has to do something with NCT or god forbid, Baekhyun, I’m leaving in ten minutes.”

Baekhyun took a sip of the champagne offered to him a few seconds ago.

“The host of this party is well known for his hatred on our kind. There’s speculations about him funding to anti-mutants groups so they can afford to find new ways to kill us.”

Kyungsoo nodded, his suspicion heightened after hearing that. “So who’s this guy?”

“Let’s just call him Mr.Song, he’s the new chief executive of a local pharmaceutical company, Oricillin. This event is him celebrating his brand new promotion.”

“A pharmaceutical company? Sounds about right.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t think this is a good place to discuss, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun ran his fingers through his long black hair. “Fair enough. You really should have brought me to a room.”

Rolling his eyes, Kyungsoo just sighed in response.

“So we’re here to what? Kidnap him?”

“I wish, it’s so easy. But no. We’re just here to observe. You can tell me about what you found after the party ends.”

 

The lights started to dim when they both had seamlessly blended in, interacting mostly with old directors and executives. It was easier to stay inconspicuous that way since all they had to do was to boost their egos.

Plus, Baekhyun was posing as an incredibly gorgeous woman and he did most of the talking. Kyungsoo only added his input every now and then, relating his comments on current political issues and the steady growth of the economy.

The infiltration was the simplest thing Kyungsoo had ever pulled, considering they both had done this kind of thing countless of times before.

Back then, they would attend random events, from the opening of a new art gallery to someone’s high school pool party. Baekhyun only had to shapeshift into a person who was undetectable yet still somehow managing to induce a familiar feeling to those around them.

They would get almost exposed everytime, causing them to sprint out from the doors, laughing hysterically while their fingers were intertwined. 

Happy, and so, so deeply in love.

Chuckling softly, Kyungsoo took a sip of his champagne and looked up towards the stage. Mr. Song, the new chief executive was standing proudly, his burgundy suit screaming for attention and tailored by hands of luxury.

He looked around thirty to thirty five years old, judging by the visibly grey hairs that were beginning to appear on his sideburns. The man held a friendly expression on his fair face, like a neighbourhood uncle everyone had when they were a child.

Despite that, the words that came out from his mouth was less than friendly.

“I would like to thank everyone for coming here tonight. I hope all of my guests are enjoying their time here and have made their desired connections,” he paused, chuckling. “May the Oricillin company bloom even more this year, please await our new product, set to be released very soon!”

The infiltrators glanced at each other.

“Thus, a toast. To our children and our brothers in hand, may all of you be protected from the claws of those heinous beasts!”

They looked at each other again, almost wanting to laugh at the audacity.

Was it that easy to locate the organisation?

Someone on Kyungsoo’s left spoke. “Those mutants need to be eradicated from this city!” 

A woman joined. “I agree, we don’t need those monsters! I live everyday in fear, what if I leave my house and my mind gets controlled, enslaved to a _freak_?”

A chorus of agreements followed suit, murmurs of hate against mutants circulating throughout the hall.

Kyungsoo’s fist clenched in anger, his other hand holding the flute of champagne with utmost force. He despised all the people in the room, he wanted to kill everyone.

The party wasn’t just prepared to celebrate the bastard’s promotion, it was also to spread malice.

He was currently stuck amongst members of a hate group, a community violent enough to encourage deaths of mutants. 

Society was messed up, people were sick.

He watched Mr. Song leaving the stage afterwards, acknowledging the applause directed towards him.  

Kyungsoo was disgusted.

His body was physically shaking until someone touched his arm. Kyungsoo almost lunged at the person who dared to approach him.

“Put your drink down, you’re gonna hurt your hand if you break it,” Baekhyun said gently, Seulgi’s soft voice calming him down.

Putting the unfinished champagne down on a table, he took a deep breath.  

“We’re leaving.” It wasn’t a request, it was a final demand.

“Not yet.”

“ _What?_ Baekhyun, I do not want you to hear anymore of these insults, let’s go.”

There was a look of surprise on Seulgi’s face but was quickly replaced by a playful smile.

“I take my words back on our mission today. Come on, we’re gonna meet Chanyeol.”

“Um, who?”

“Someone from my team.”

  

X

 

“I thought you said we weren’t gonna kidnap him,” Kyungsoo deadpanned, staring down at the tied and blindfolded chief executive of Oricillin.

Baekhyun gave a side smirk. “Change of plans. I didn’t know he would be that bold.”

“We’ve got around twelve minutes to get something out of this guy, so hurry up,” a third person talked, his voice deep and solemn. 

Chanyeol was tall, way taller than Baekhyun and him. He had shaggy brown hair, long due for a haircut. A black mask with a picture of a skull sewn into it was covering half of his face so Kyungsoo couldn’t really describe how he looked like.

Baekhyun ripped off the duct tape from the man’s mouth, giving him a warning to not scream by placing his fingers on his neck, pressing on all the pressure points.

“You scream and you’re a dead man.”

Fear was evident in Mr. Song’s eyes, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

“W-What do you want?! I’ll give you any amount, just let me go please!”

Kyungsoo only rolled his eyes and sighed. Extremely wealthy people were something else.

“Chanyeol.” Baekhyun said, releasing his hold on the man. 

The sound of a gun being cocked was all too familiar and it resonated within the hotel room. Kyungsoo only realised now that he was getting himself too deep into the dark side of the law and yet, he had no ounce of regret. 

“D-Don’t kill me!” Mr. Song stuttered, eyes shut tightly.

“If you behave, sure. We have questions and you have the answers. Where have you been illegally funding your money to?”

His eyes opened, pupils flitting from left to right nervously.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Cut the shit, Song. Your speech just now was stupidly impressive, really. We’re happy to know that we’re known as heinous beasts now.”

“You guys are _mutants_? Oh god, I’ve been kidnapped by freaks, I’m definitely going to die.”

“Tempting,” Chanyeol grumbled. His posture was textbook perfect, Kyungsoo noticed, the gun was positioned correctly.

“Where is Oricillin’s money going to?” Baekhyun asked again, tone bordering on dangerous.

“Eight minutes,” Chanyeol reminded.

“Mr. Song, you wouldn’t want to endanger your family, right?” The shapeshifter threatened with a sickeningly sweet smile, even Kyungsoo felt uneasy. The man gulped, half scared to death. He could have sworn he could imagine the weight of the bullet, lodged in his brain if he spoke out of line. 

The reply poured through immediately, like honey trickling from a broken pot.

“I-I just transfer the money to an offshore account every two weeks. Around two years ago, an anonymous mail was sent to me, stating about how I could contribute to um, eliminating mutants from this city. In return, they would deliver me the proof. It’s been like that ever since, I s-swear!”

It was Kyungsoo’s turn. “What kind of proof? And how was it delivered?”

“Um, at the end of each month, I would get a sealed envelope. Inside, t-there are…”

“There’s what?” Kyungsoo squinted his eyes.

“...Profiles. Pictures of the mutants they removed from the city alongside their names and powers. Though I don’t really care, I just wanted them to leave.”

“Five minutes more.” 

“You mean, their death certificates,” Kyungsoo clarified, crossing his arms in distaste.

“W-What? Oh no, don’t be mistaken, the mutants weren’t killed. They were only shipped off somewhere outside of Seoul.”

“You’re either lying or just really dumb.” 

Baekhyun only nodded, lips pursed. “They were murdered, Mr. Song. And you had no idea who’s been sending the envelopes?”

“No! I swear I didn’t even know the mutants were killed. I-I hate your kind but I do not want anyone to die. Shit, what have I done…” 

Mr. Song appeared genuinely baffled, eyes blinking rapidly. Kyungsoo was about to ask Baekhyun to reconsider the hostage’s less cruel intent but the words died in his mouth the moment his eyes landed on the latter.

Baekhyun had a small smile on his face, the edges of his lips turned up at the slightest bit. Strangers wouldn’t notice that he was grinning but Kyungsoo was no stranger.

It was the smile reserved for his patients, of a therapist waiting to trigger a point in someone’s unconscious mind that would inevitably make them reveal everything.

Chanyeol spoke again. “Three minutes.”

“You really had no idea, Mr. Song? Not even the recent ones?” Baekhyun asked gently. Kyungsoo didn’t dare to speak.

The man shook his head, frowning in deep thought. “Oh god, those mutants on the news…”

  

It finally clicked.

The former therapist’s smile became wider.

  

“Ah, but who said anything about the news? I was referring to the previous month’s list of mutants.”

 

Mr. Song froze. Silence ensued, hovering over them like a plague. Abruptly, his whole demeanor changed, from scared to tensed.

He continued. “Say, Kyungsoo, the public isn’t even made aware that the victims were mutants, am I right?”

“Yes, it’s confidential.”

And the hostage began to chuckle. 

“One minute.”

“You caught me. That was a smart move, _Baekhyun_.” 

Baekhyun didn’t even blink. “So you do know me?”

“Of course we know you, we’ve been hunting you down for years. Brilliant idea on bringing him here too.” He smirked, looking at Chanyeol.

“Fifteen seconds,” Chanyeol whispered, a finger pressing onto the trigger.

“Where are you keeping them?” Baekhyun interrogated for the last time.

Mr. Song cackled. “See you when you’re dead.”

“Time’s up.”

Kyungsoo observed as Chanyeol dropped the gun on the floor, walked over towards the wicked man and placed his palms on his temples.

“Sleep.”

The man’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he began to snore.

Chanyeol exhaled deeply, focusing. Meanwhile, Baekhyun hurriedly untied the hostage’s hands and legs.

“Now, you will get up from your seat. You will leave this room quietly. Close the door on your way out. You will meet up with your colleagues back in Rose Hall. When they ask where you’ve been for the last twenty minutes, you were busy snogging with a woman nicknamed Cherry.”

Mr. Song mumbled incoherently in his brief nap.

“Whatever the case, you did not encounter the three of us here. You may wake up and do as I say. I release you.”

Oricillin’s new chief executive’s eyes opened slowly and Kyungsoo noticed they were a bit glassy. The man yawned, getting up from his seat as Chanyeol stepped away. Fixing his tie, Mr. Song left the room without a word, but not before closing the door on his way out.

“That’s your gift? Mind control?” Kyungsoo asked in awe.

Chanyeol only scratched his ear, seemingly shy. “Not really, I can manipulate time but only within a short period. I’ve been practicing though.”

Baekhyun chuckled softly. “He’s been training everyday. It used to be only five and now he has learned to extend it to approximately twenty-two minutes.”

“Chanyeol, that’s amazing,” he praised.

“Thank you, Kyungsoo. For helping us out too. I know it ain’t easy to snoop under the law for a guy like you.” Chanyeol replied, his voice muffled behind the mask but the gratitude filtered through. 

Kyungsoo only waved his arm. “In a way, I am tasked to solve the case. Just...I’m using the unorthodox method right now.”

“Come on, we gotta go, you both can chat later. Junmyeon just texted me, they succeeded,” Baekhyun interrupted, pocketing his cellphone away.

“The rest of your team?”

“I’ll introduce you to them tomorrow, they’re all dying to meet you,” Baekhyun replied, smiling softly at him. Kyungsoo averted his eyes, pretending he didn’t see anything.

“Um, sure. Let’s get out of here.”

Getting into his car, Kyungsoo was ready to bid farewell to them. He had to return to the lab, he still hasn’t submitted his daily report and he also needed to review files. Baekhyun and Chanyeol had decided on their own to accompany him all the way here, his car was parked six blocks away from the hotel.

“Do you guys need a ride?” He had asked.

“It’s fine, Kyungsoo, I’m walking back home, I need some fresh air after that mission,” Chanyeol politely rejected, waving goodbye as he walked away.

Baekhyun gave a sheepish smile.

“Do you mind giving me one?”

Kyungsoo licked his lips, shaking his head. Baekhyun grinned widely and the other almost bit his tongue. He was still weak for the shapeshifter’s cute smiles and he hated himself for it. 

Baekhyun planted himself on the passenger seat, relaxing himself against the cushion as he wore his seatbelt.

“So, where to?”

“Hmm, anywhere except for the place you’re gonna head right now.”

“How did you know-”

“Irene tells me you like to overwork yourself these days. Or well, for months now. I just assumed,” Baekhyun shrugged nonchalantly.

“I do not overwork myself.”

“Whatever floats your boat, Soo.”

Kyungsoo stared straight at the view in front of him. His hands were clammy again, anxiety rising up his spine.  

“Yeah, well, I really need to get back to work though.”

Baekhyun pinched his own nose and sat straight.  

“You know what, let me drive.” 

He turned to look at the other. “What? No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I said no.”

“Come on, it’s not like I haven’t driven this before.”

“It was that one time, Baek. And in case you’ve forgotten, you almost crashed it.”

“There it is.”

“What is?”

“You finally called me Baek.”

Kyungsoo went rigid, his eyes locked with the other’s in a brief staredown. He suddenly wished he was gifted with Chanyeol’s ability.

“Fine, you can drive,” he quickly said, getting out of the car to change places. Baekhyun only crawled across the seats, settling himself behind the wheel.

As he got in, Baekhyun was already starting the engine, humming softly.  

Kyungsoo knew that tune anywhere, Baekhyun used to sing it all the time when he was showering. The headache was coming back, the pain spreading across his forehead. He desperately needed to just shut his eyes.

“Hey, take a nap. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we get there in one piece,” the other promised. Kyungsoo wanted to argue but he felt extremely lethargic all of the sudden and allowed himself to relax.

The last thing he saw before darkness engulfed him was Baekhyun’s eyes, shining with something akin to fondness.

  

When he woke up, he found himself on a bed, his whole body covered by a thick blanket. Kyungsoo definitely knew he wasn’t in his apartment but in someone else’s. Despite feeling groggy, he forced himself to sit up, stretching his back.

The shower was running and Kyungsoo internally winced. Baekhyun was singing the song and he felt tired all over again. It was nearing 3AM, had he really slept that long?

Kyungsoo registered that his feet were bare, his socks and leather shoes missing. He was also only in his dress shirt and straight cut slacks. Looking over the bedside table, his jacket was there, neatly folded.

A dead weight fell over his shoulders. Kyungsoo wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, he couldn’t breathe. His breathing was becoming labored and he held his hand to his chest.  

He was drowning, not in water, but in Baekhyun.

Baekhyun’s scent was all over the place, etched into every thread of the bedsheet, lingering in the air like it was oxygen. Kyungsoo could not resist, he was reminded of their days just lounging on bed, counting the cracks in the ceiling or the number of eyelashes they had on their eyes.

Kyungsoo abruptly stood up, taking his jacket in a rough manner. A soft thud was heard and he glanced down at the item that had dropped from the table.

His heart almost stopped beating. He bent down to pick up the fallen object, shakily exhaling.

“You’re awake.”

Kyungsoo almost jumped, he didn’t hear that the water had been turned off. Standing up again, he turned to look at Baekhyun whose hair was still wet from the shower, the other already dressed in pajamas. He hurriedly hid the item behind his back.

The latter gave a curious smile and started talking again.

“You were sleeping so well in the car, I didn’t want to wake you up.”

Kyungsoo held the object firmly in his hand, gritting his teeth.

“You carried me all the way up to your room?”

“Well, kinda. I had to turn into a pro wrestler to lift you up,” Baekhyun snickered.  

“Baekhyun.” He said seriously.

“Okay, I was kidding, sheesh. I carried you by myself.”

Raising his hand, Kyungsoo revealed what he was trying to hide. The watch dangled from his hand.

Kyungsoo felt like he was dangling his heart. 

“Why do you still have this?” 

Baekhyun’s smile died instantly.

“Ah, the watch…”

Kyungsoo just stared at him, refusing to speak a word.

“It’s an expensive watch, Soo, I couldn’t just-”

“Don’t call me _Soo_.”

A pang of hurt flashed across the shapeshifter’s eyes.

“Why does it matter to you that I still keep it? It was a gift, wasn’t it?”

Kyungsoo was in disbelief. “You’re seriously asking me that? You know what this gift fucking means.”

“What does it mean to _you_ then?” Baekhyun fired back, eyes hardening.

“Our one year anniversary. Two years ago, I gave it to you, I saved up for months to buy that for you.” Kyungsoo spilled the words in a rush, panting softly.

His eyes were blurry all of the sudden, he couldn’t see very well.

“We broke up two years ago, didn’t we? I just saw no reason to throw something that valuable away.”

Kyungsoo’s shoulders started to shake and Baekhyun frowned when he realised the former was laughing.

 

“Broke up? Baekhyun, we didn’t break up. You _left_ me.”

  

It was out in the open now, his bottled emotions ready to spill.

“Two years ago, on that night, we got our first proper rest in weeks. We said I love you to each other before we crashed. And the next morning, you were fucking gone, no goodbye, no anything. Is that your definition of breaking up?”

“Soo…”

“I told you to not call me that, you bastard.” Tears began rolling down his cheeks, like a never ending waterfall and Kyungsoo’s heart was cracked open once again. He had pieced them together months ago, not wanting anyone to worry about him anymore.

Kyungsoo didn't have a lot of friends, was always by himself ever since he moved to the city. He had no one to talk to but also, he didn't want anyone to talk to.

Irene never pushed him to tell what happened, what made his eyes red whenever he came to work and what was making him lose focus most of the time.

She only gave him less work, asked him to go back home early to rest and treated him to a hearty lunch every few days.

He remembered those months of wallowing in grief, feeling cold all the time and mostly useless. Because of his incompetent self, Kyungsoo had ended up in the hospital for a week.

The doctor had said he was gravely malnourished and also advised Kyungsoo to visit a therapist.

That only made him remember Baekhyun even more and Kyungsoo felt like he was just falling deeper into the rabbit’s hole. 

 

“ _I suggest you see someone, Mr. Do. You seem to be under extreme stress, it caused you to faint.”_

_“I thought you said it's because I wasn't having proper meals.”_

_“That is only a minor factor. Your mental health is what's affecting you the most.”_

 

In the end, he got back up, drowning himself in work and staying away from things that could upset his heart.

“But you had to come back,” Kyungsoo said out loud, “Not for the reason I wanted you to, you just needed my help.”

“Kyungsoo, you knew I was targeted, I’m still am, I h-had to.” Baekhyun replied weakly, his eyes were glassy too. 

“You had to?” He repeated and chuckled bitterly. 

“Fifteenth. That’s the _fifteenth_ lie you’ve told me since we met. Or what I could find out anyway.” 

Baekhyun just gaped at him and Kyungsoo couldn’t bear it no more. He threw the watch on the bed, set on leaving. Walking past the other, he willed himself to stop crying, there was no point. 

“Kyungsoo, wait, please, let’s talk!” 

But Kyungsoo didn’t want to talk, speed walking towards the door. Baekhyun gripped his arm but was quickly pushed away.

Baekhyun was heaving. “I know you’re mad that I left you but I-” 

“Save it,” Kyungsoo cut his words, slipping his feet into his shoes.

Before he closed the door, he halted and glanced at his former lover with teary eyes. 

“And for the record, Baek, I wasn’t angry that you left me. I was confused that you didn’t trust me enough to take me with you.”

The door was slammed shut immediately afterwards. Kyungsoo walked away, leaving his heart behind for the hundredth time.

 

X

  

**_[2.33PM, Forensic Department, National Police Agency]_ **

 

“Kyungsoo, come into my office,” Irene had called, stopping Kyungsoo from his current task. He had just started analysing the fresh bullets brought in just hours ago, after a new case had popped out in the Samcheong-dong neighbourhood.

He immediately got up, patting Taeyong’s shoulder when he walked past. The latter was occupied with Chemical X again, testing its capabilities on different samples of blood and bodily fluids.

So far, the less evolved kin of mutants, which were normal humans, weren’t affected by the agglutinogen. The substance wasn’t harmful to _homo sapiens_ and failed to induce any forms of immune responses.

“Keep up the good work,” Kyungsoo told him before entering Irene’s office.

“Did you need something, Irene?”

“No, but I need to show you something. Here, these are the files we copied from Mr. Song’s.”

“Who gave these to you?” 

“Baekhyun. I was briefed on what happened yesterday. I also told him and the others about the chemical we found in the bullet casings.” 

Kyungsoo sat down and began to flip through the files. “I’m guessing this was the result of that Junmyeon guy’s work?”

His boss nodded. “Junmyeon is an excellent thief, I might say.”

“How did he come about?”

“Minseok seeked him out, they went to the same high school. He’s like you, a human who supports mutants’ lives.”

“I see. Well, looking at these, Mr. Song wasn’t lying about the profiles.” Kyungsoo wanted to vomit. Not only each document stated names and their powers, but also on how they were killed - including photos of their corpses.  

A woman with sunken cheeks and blonde hair caught his attention. It only succeeded in confirming his worst suspicions.

“Kim Yerim, her C.O.D was accidental drowning. Joey Colleen, overdosed on his antidepressants. Shit, I’ve seen their faces before.”

Irene crossed her fingers as she leaned in towards Kyungsoo.

“Baekhyun also told me this. Years ago, you guys worked on this case?”

Kyungsoo sighed, nodding. It was still a sensitive time for him after yesterday but as an agent, he must stay professional. 

“At that time, we didn't have a proper name for NCT. We assumed it was one person, at most two, going around murdering mutants. We’ve never came across these kind of documents. My bet is that NCT was still experimenting around.”

“When Minseok was murdered, it became our breaking point. He was our friend.” Irene began to explain.

“I understand, it hit close to home.”

“It did. But what the reports didn’t tell you is this. Minseok had been actively searching for a clue that NCT existed.”

Kyungsoo’s eyebrows furrowed. “Got him into trouble, didn’t it? He died because of it.” 

His boss’ expression turned dark.  

“That brilliant man somehow managed to prove that the organisation was real. He was also a fool, doing everything alone and kept it from us.” Kyungsoo urged her to continue.

“A few hours just before he was murdered, Baekhyun found out. He was furious, of course, who wouldn’t be. Minseok only told him to not worry, explaining about his findings.”

“So that’s how you guys discovered NCT?” 

“Yeah, we found it through the hard way,” she replied grimly. 

“Minseok was a hero. And now with us having Chemical X in our hands, we’re gonna catch them soon.” 

“Taeyong’s a hero too. He’s much younger than us and his work ethic is already breaking grounds.” Irene praised, a motherly smile on her face.

Kyungsoo chuckled. “He might even surpass us one day. Speaking of that boy, shouldn’t we tell him? After all, without his eye for detail, we wouldn’t even know that the agglutinogen existed.”

It was Irene’s turn to laugh. “Come on, Kyungsoo. We would have still found the substance, but maybe later than him. Anyways, I’m already dragging you into this mess, I don’t want Taeyong to be in unnecessary danger.”

“Technically, he already kinda is. You have two federal agents here and we both have probably broken like 20 laws. In any case, he’s considered an accomplice.”

“It’s 18. Shut up, I’ve been counting. But you’re right, telling him would be best, I trust him. He does remind me of you, somewhat.” 

“Come on, let’s call him in.”

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Irene hurriedly collected the files, storing them in a drawer and locking it. Kyungsoo turned his head to see who it was.

“I’m here!” Jongdae’s loud voice boomed, the crime scene photographer appearing as he opened the door.

Kyungsoo frowned. “Oh, you.”

“Jeez, at least fake looking happy, Kyungsoo.”

“Um, what are you doing here, Jongdae?” Irene cleared her throat, expecting an answer. 

“Ah, well, my boss sent me here. I’m supposed to retrieve back the photos we took at the scene from two days ago.” 

“Oh, damn, I forgot the mall investigation is now under the economic crime unit.”

Kyungsoo got up. “I have the pictures with me, they’re in my office. Follow me.”

“Nice,” Jongdae answered, bowing at Irene.

“Oh, and Kyungsoo, call Taeyong in for me.”

Kyungsoo smiled, understanding why.

“Taeyong, Irene wants to speak with you.”

His assistant turned around on his office chair, a pen between his lips. He nodded, getting up in a rush.

 

“Why did you decide to come today? I mean, usually, we have errand boys for this sort of delivery.”

Jongdae shrugged. “Felt like it, I had nothing to do anyway. Plus, I’ve always wanted to see how the main lab of the forensics department looked like. And I must say, it’s cooler than I imagined it to be.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice. Sorry about the sudden transfer of cases, we didn’t realise that our hands were already full.”

“You guys have been pretty busy these days. How’s Jung Seongwoo’s case going on?”

Kyungsoo faked a sigh. “Nothing much there, we know what gun what used but it’s still impossible to find out anything without the murder weapon.”

The photographer whistled. “True, if you could find the gun, it’s just the matter of finding who is it registered under.”

“Exactly, I’m afraid that the case will turn cold at this rate.”

It was easy to lie, he would do anything to protect Irene and her friends. 

Arranging the files in alphabetical order, Kyungsoo took one last look at the pictures. The lady’s left arm had been severely amputated, her whole body blooming black and purple bruises. 

“That’s a nasty one,” he commented.

“Right? She was just a cashier, caught at a bad time, really. Look carefully, one of her ears was chopped off.”

“Well, Jongdae, I forgot how exceptionally good you’re at finding the perfect angles.”

“Aw, thank you, Kyungsoo. I do work hard on them. I’ll let you in on a little secret.”

“What secret?”

Jongdae smirked. “Heh, well, I brand my pictures. Okay, look at the corner there. Do you see it?” 

The ballistics expert squinted his eyes, leaning in closely. There was a small transparent star stamped onto the photo, in an area where it wouldn’t tamper with the evidence presented.

“Oh my god, Jongdae. Is this even allowed?”

“Hey, I don’t even have to tell you this. If it doesn’t bother with the documentation, you can make anything yours.”

Kyungsoo passed the folders to the other. “Fair enough. Here, take them.”

“Thanks, Kyungsoo. Catch you later.”

  

X

  

**_[7.03PM, Unknown base, Seoul, South Korea]_ **

  

“So this is where you guys meet up often?” Kyungsoo questioned, one hand on his briefcase as he got out from the car. It appeared to be an abandoned factory, the windows closed off by dark coloured curtains.

“We move every few weeks to avoid suspicion. Baekhyun chose here because it’s near the targeted facility,” Irene explained. Kyungsoo glanced at her when her hair changed colours again, this time a flaming red.

He knew Irene was completely ready to fight, nothing was going to stop her this time.

“Let’s go inside, it’s time you meet them.”

 

Kyungsoo was a bit nervous, not because of the upcoming mission but meeting new people was still quite hard for him to get used to.

He was also anxious on meeting Baekhyun again, it had been three days since they had last spoken to each other.

“Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol’s familiar voice rang throughout the hall.

“Hey, Chanyeol, nice to see you again,” he greeted, getting a look good at the other’s face.

Chanyeol gave a huge grin, it reminded him of a puppy. “C’mon, I’ll introduce you to the others.”

“Go ahead, guys, I need to meet up with Baekhyun first,” Irene said, walking the opposite direction.

The factory used to be a bread factory, Kyungsoo noted, eyeing the rundown ovens and broken mixing machines. But the place was definitely cleaned up, the floors weren’t dusty and the lighting was working just fine.

“Come in,” Chanyeol ushered, opening the door on the right. Taking a deep breath, Kyungsoo stepped in, catching sight of a small group of people.

A girl with bobbed black hair stood up immediately, smiling warmly. “Hey, you must be Do Kyungsoo! Welcome to the resistance, I’m Jane.”

Shaking her hand, he grinned back. “Thank you for accepting me, I’ll do my best to help you guys out.” 

Suddenly, Kyungsoo sensed a burst of cold wind passing through him. A person literally materialised in front of him, forming from specks of dust. A man as tall as Chanyeol appeared, but with blonde hair and a prominent jawline.

“I’m Sehun,” he introduced himself, saluting and then walking away like he didn’t perform such a spectacular act.

“That’s an amazing power you’ve got there, Sehun.”

Jane laughed, pulling Kyungsoo’s arm to make him sit. “He can manipulate the wind and also become the wind. One of our strongest members, to be honest.” Kyungsoo set down the briefcase he brought with him on the table.

“How many of you guys are there?”

Someone spoke. “Including the dead or nah?”

“Mark!” Chanyeol chided, frowning deeply.

“So far, there are about seventeen people in this building right now. Excluding you, by the way.” Jane answered, glaring at Mark. Then, she dropped her voice to a whisper. “Sorry, Mark’s only sixteen, he doesn’t really know the meaning of a filter.”

Kyungsoo nodded his head in comprehension. “It’s fine, we’ve all heard and seen more morbid stuff than that.”

Afterwards, he was made acquainted with several others present in the room, learning some of their abilities. He was hearing a funny story from Sooyoung, endowed with the power to generate glue from her hands, when the door creaked open. 

It revealed Irene, Baekhyun and an unknown man.

The pair of former lovers made eye contact with each other, both averting their eyes away in split second. 

“Oh, hello, Kyungsoo is it? I’m Junmyeon,” the man introduced himself, shaking Kyungsoo’s hand earnestly. The latter smiled in lieu, relieved that Junmyeon appeared to be a friendly person.

Junmyeon continued. “It’s nice to finally have someone like me here, gosh, I thought I had to implant my hands with metal claws or something to be as strong as them.”

“Good for you, Junmyeon, maybe you guys can even start dating,” Mark teased, eliciting snickers from the others.

“Hey, it’s time,” Baekhyun interjected, expression turning serious.

In that instant, the mood in the room dropped. Kyungsoo could detect it, everyone was on high alert, muscles tensing, their powers’ intensity rising for the impending doom.  

“To those who aren’t still informed, I managed to hack into Mr. Song’s laptop, retrieved all the data and files. As of now, Chemical X is being mass produced in a facility, three blocks away from where we are now.” Junmyeon had stated.

Irene spoke next. “This chemical only affects mutants, poisoning us from the inside. It takes 20 seconds for it to render us helpless and another ten to kill us.” Kyungsoo nodded, scanning his eyes all around. “Afterwards, the substance conceals itself, dispersing into the blood. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to create an antidote that could counterattack the chemical.”

“You’re saying that once it’s in our blood, we no longer can do anything about it?” Jane questioned, her face ghastly.

“It’s best for us to just avoid. That’s why I’m gonna ask everyone this. If you want to step down from this mission, then so be it. But if you’re in, you have a chance to save your friends, your family. It’s a huge risk, I know,” Baekhyun said, “Will you die? Maybe, maybe not. But if we don’t do this, more mutants are going to.”

A brief silence hung over them, indicating that all of them was set on their decision.

Baekhyun looked proud albeit sad, he was sending his comrades into a suicide mission. “So everyone’s in. We have two objectives today and I already divided you guys into two units. Unit A, led by Junmyeon, will search for Chemical X.” 

Junmyeon raised his hand. “Depending on the situation, we’re either gonna destroy all the labs in there or find a way to eliminate the chemical permanently. We don’t know what’s in there, so it’s a make or break it.” 

“Unit B will be under me, and our task is to find out where they’re keeping the kidnapped mutants,” Baekhyun voiced out. “There’s a high chance of fully armed men guarding them so prepare to fight.”

The shapeshifter looked at him. “Kyungsoo, you’re in my team.”

“Got it.” 

“Kyungsoo, open the bag,” Irene instructed. He unlocked the briefcase, revealing two guns.

Sehun whistled, impressed. “Glock 19 pistols, you guys are really federal agents.”

“Damn good ones too,” Baekhyun added, staring straight at Kyungsoo. There was a hollow in Kyungsoo’s heart but he remained focused, he had to.

He lifted up his personal gun, locking it to the gun holder by his waist. Tightening the straps on his bulletproof vest, he felt braver than he had ever been before.  

 

“Kyungsoo, can I talk to you for a sec?” Baekhyun stood next to him, his face begging for Kyungsoo to not ignore him.

He only nodded. 

“I know that right now is the worst possible time to apologise for everything I’ve done so I won’t. But will you hear me out properly after we get this over with?”

Kyungsoo swallowed the lump in his throat, feeling uneasy and strangely relieved at the same time. 

“Okay,” he answered monotonously yet the reply was enough to make the shapeshifter smile.

“Thank you. And, you probably don’t need this but please, be careful.” Baekhyun’s brows were furrowed, his lips set in a straight line. Deep in Kyungsoo’s heart, for one second, he felt the sincerity and love oozing out from the other. 

He just shook his head. “I think you need it more than I do.”

 

They drove three vans to reach the facility. Kyungsoo finally caught onto Jane’s mutation, she could make things invisible. The vans moved silently, even the engines’ sounds were muted.  

“How far can you go?” Kyungsoo had asked in the vehicle, he was seated between Irene and Jane.

“Three-miles radius, distance and height,” she answered proudly, one hand on the window to channel her power with more finesse.

“We’re almost there,” Woozi, another member of the resistance, announced from the passenger seat. Kyungsoo cracked his fingers, reaching for his gun.

He could hear Irene taking a deep long breath beside him. Patting her shoulder, he gave her an encouraging smile. 

“It’s been a long time since we’ve done this.”

“Yeah, I just realised only now that we’ve been stuck with office work and crime scenes for the past few years. I’m afraid I’m a bit rusty with field work.”

Kyungsoo chortled. “Welcome to the club. It’ll be fine, Irene, with seventeen mutants all intent on attacking, we have a higher chance of saving whoever’s in there.” 

“We’re in different teams so we can’t keep an eye on each other. Stay alert,” Irene warned, worry filling her eyes.

“I will, you too.” 

“We’re here,” Baekhyun declared, stopping the van.

The sun had set, violet painting the sky. From the outside, the facility’s walls were painted black and there seemed to be no guards stationed at the main entrance. It was left to look abandoned on purpose, so anyone wouldn’t suspect that a mutant killing syndicate was present within the walls.

Even the gate was missing, the main doors unlocked.  

It almost seemed too good to be true, Kyungsoo had doubted. 

All of them were already outside the car, all wearing bulletproof vests and biker gloves. Only a certain few were armed with guns, the humans and the ones with defensive abilities.  

“I’ve studied the layout of this place, surprisingly it wasn’t difficult to find an available print. Anyways, the labs are situated at the back,” Junmyeon uttered, voice low amidst the darkness.

“There’s a back door?” Mark asked, expression wary.  

“More like a hangar’s gate. We need you to open it.”

“Roger.” The sixteen year old’s power was quite incredible as well, he could radiate lasers from his eyes.

“Let’s move. We’ll see you guys later. Best of luck,” Junmyeon wished, leading his team towards the back.

“Same goes to you. The rest, follow me,” Baekhyun ordered, signalling them to walk behind him with a flick of a finger. Kyungsoo cocked his gun, pulling the safety trigger off.

  

X

 

**_[The final battle.]_ **

 

Kyungsoo pulled Jane to the side, the plasma blast missing her by a hair’s length. Without hesitation, he pressed on the trigger, shooting the man in the shoulder. The sudden hit made the other drop the firearms he was carrying, crying in pain as blood started to spill.

Running towards the man with amazing agility, Kyungsoo roundhouse kicked him in the face, knocking him unconscious. He grabbed the weapon, throwing it at a shell shocked Jane.

“Here, use this.”

Jane caught it with flailing arms, sighing in relief. “Thanks!” she yelled sincerely, sprinting off to somewhere else. Kyungsoo only turned away when he spotted Jane using the firearms with ease, blasting at the enemy one by one. 

“Sehun, cover me!” Kyungsoo requested. A mini typhoon formed around him, the harsh wind warding off the nearby enemies. There were more of them than they originally expected, the opponents would not stop coming.

Kyungsoo had ten rounds left, which was more than enough for the next few minutes. As the bullet passed through the typhoon, Sehun supplied it with more force, enabling the bullet to shoot through two people at once.

“Take that, you fuckers.” Kyungsoo heard Sehun holler and he couldn’t help but gloat a bit. They continued on with the same tactic, successfully rendering a lot either hurt or dead.

Baekhyun appeared out of nowhere, dropping down on someone holding a pistol, positioning him into a chokehold. In a swift move, he twisted his neck, the sound of a crack clear through the air.

“Sehun, assist Woozi and the others now!” He ordered and the typhoon disappeared.

Without thinking, Kyungsoo had his back against Baekhyun and they moved like an experienced duo.

“I got left,” Kyungsoo stated calmly, aiming at three in a row. Meanwhile Baekhyun rapidly transformed to a man with bulging muscles and veins, smashing the opponents’ heads on the wall.

The vast hallway was a battlezone, and they haven’t even reached the prison yet. They caught sight of it though, tens of metal doors present, all sealed shut.

“We need to hurry up,” Baekhyun told him, dragging Kyungsoo along.

Mina, another mutant, ran up to them. “I’ll handle them, you guys go ahead.” 

“Stop right there!” A masked man shouted, shooting plasma blasts mercilessly. Mina balanced her whole body, slowly lifting herself off the floor. She accelerated herself forward, attacking the men with her superhuman strength.

One by one, the men fell, failing to even take a shot at the woman.

 

“Shit, this won’t open easily,” Kyungsoo cursed, kicking at the door.

The doors all had small glass panes and the one they were standing right in front of showed a frightened young boy. The walls were soundproof but the boy was obviously pleading for help.

“There must be a surveillance control room,” Baekhyun suggested, scanning his eyes around their surroundings. They spotted someone a few feet away and without saying a word, Kyungsoo struck a bullet right in the man’s heart.

“Should we split?”

The shapeshifter shook his head. “Definitely not. C’mon, let’s head this way.”

They were lucky to find the room minutes after running around. Baekhyun hurriedly punched the man guarding it while Kyungsoo stared up at the CCTVs. The monitors displayed what was happening outside, his allies fighting for their lives.

“Give me a sec,” Kyungsoo said, clicking away on a keyboard which controlled the entire system of the prison.

“Can you do it?” Baekhyun asked while being on lookout, standing by the door.

“On it but we have a problem. I can easily unlock all the doors but once I do, the system automatically releases some kind of gas into the air, killing them.”

Baekhyun punched the wall in frustration. “It’s probably the same poison. Any way of disabling the gas?”

The forensic ballistic sighed, shaking his head. “I can’t do it from here. I think it’s a manual job.”

“Where’s the main network for this?”

Kyungsoo quickly read the fine print. “Not far, I can lead you to it.”

“Let’s go.”

The both of them were diving deeper into the facility, the lights becoming dimmer and dimmer. Kyungsoo had already loaded his gun barrel whilst Baekhyun walked behind him.

“Here’s the room.”

Baekhyun once again transformed into a human version of the Hulk, easily breaking the door into smithereens.  

“What are you gonna do?” Kyungsoo questioned, looking at the machines and monitors in the room.  

The other grinned. “Pull the wires out.”

“ _All_ of them?”

“You have such little faith in me, Kyungsoo." 

Kyungsoo was about to roll his eyes when he heard footsteps behind them. 

It happened in an instant. Kyungsoo didn’t even think, he just pushed Baekhyun away. He saw Baekhyun’s face morphing into horror and he couldn’t understand why.

Till it started hurting.

Kyungsoo glanced down, blinking at the knife lodged in his chest.

“Oh,” he whispered, dropping to the floor. His legs felt wobbly and the headache had arrived to haunt him again.

He wondered why it felt like a permanent one this time.

“Soo!” Baekhyun yelled, running to him. The gun in Kyungsoo’s grip was taken away with shaking hands. Baekhyun furiously shot the man who threw a knife at him. Kyungsoo could register five bullets being discharged which in his opinion, was completely unwarranted.  

“I can’t breathe,” Kyungsoo whispered weakly, red filling his eyesight. Baekhyun let go of the gun, hurriedly opening the straps of the vest to let some space in.

Kyungsoo started to breathe heavily, staring at the knife. He tried reaching for it, perhaps forcefully pulling it out but Baekhyun caught his hand, intertwining their fingers.

“Soo, please, please, try to breathe. Don’t fall asleep, p-please don’t,” Baekhyun begged. For some reason, droplets of water were splashing onto his cheek.

It took a minute for Kyungsoo to realise that Baekhyun was crying.

“Cry...don’t cry…” 

Baekhyun sniffled, exhaling shakily.

“Y-You can’t leave me, not yet Soo, not yet.”

Kyungsoo gave a faint chuckle. “Awfully selfish of you…”

Gripping onto his hand tighter, Baekhyun leaned in. “I know I am, I’m the most selfish person you’ve ever met.” Kyungsoo raised his arm, placing a hand on Baekhyun’s face, cradling his jaw.

“You’re also the sweetest one.” 

They laid there quietly, embracing each other’s presence. Kyungsoo felt more and more fatigued by the minute, his breathing getting increasingly shallow. Blood didn’t spill as much after Baekhyun had applied pressure to stop the external bleeding.  

“Hey, Baekhyun.”

“Yeah?”

“I feel like taking a nap.”

“No, I forbid you to.” 

“I...I don’t think I can hold on much longer…”

“But I need to tell you something,” Baekhyun spoke softly, caressing his hair.

“What is it?”

“I love you, Do Kyungsoo.” 

Kyungsoo allowed his eyelids to drop, ignoring Baekhyun shaking his body, his pleads and screams. Before he descended into the darkness, he heard more footsteps approaching them.

 

He desperately hoped his other friends were still alive.

  

X

 

**_[9.46AM, Seoul National University Hospital, Jong-ro, Seoul]_ **

 

When Kyungsoo woke up, Jongdae was the last person he expected to see.

The latter let out a huge sigh of relief. “Oh good, you’re finally awake.”

Kyungsoo groaned, the sunlight was hitting his eyes. He was in a hospital ward, bound to a bed. He tried to sit up but pain struck his chest. Looking down, he saw that his upper abdomen was heavily bandaged.

“Ugh, how long have I been sleeping?”

Jongdae got up from his seat, helping Kyungsoo to adjust his position on the bed.

“Almost 12 hours, I’m kinda surprised you’re up.”

“I was stabbed not amputated,” he recalled, feeling a bit parched. The crime scene photographer must have noticed because he quickly poured water into a glass, handing it to Kyungsoo.

“Thanks.” His throat felt like the Sahara desert.

“No offense, Jongdae, but why are you here?”

“Well, I wanted to be a good colleague and send you flowers but I decide to send myself instead,” he smirked, cackling at his own joke. Kyungsoo gave an exasperated look to which Jongdae responded.

“Really, I’m here on a visit. Jesus Christ, Kyungsoo, did you even know what you did?” 

It hit Kyungsoo like a bullet train. The mutants, the resistance, the mission.

 

_Baekhyun._

 

“Jongdae, I-I can explain-”

“You saved Irene’s ass from the fire! But man, you got stabbed in the process, that must sucked.”

Kyungsoo furrowed his brows. “Um, what? What fire? And how’s Irene?”

“You don’t remember what happened?”

“Not really...care to explain?” He requested, something was indubitably off but he didn’t dare to correct anything. 

“You and Irene were having dinner at a restaurant, and a couple of goons decided to rob the place. The chefs in the kitchen got so scared, they accidentally started a huge fire. The both of you quickly led everyone outside in the midst of the chaos. One of the guys was threatening you but you didn’t give a shit.” 

“So he stabbed me?”

“Duh. It’s all over the news,” Jongdae confirmed, grabbing the remote control to switch on the television. 

And he was right. 

On the news channel, a fire had burned down a restaurant yesterday but no one was hurt. There was no evidence of him and Irene being there which only increased his scepticism.

_What actually happened?_

“Can I come in?” Taeyong knocked on the door, smiling when he saw Kyungsoo.

“Boss, you’re alive!”

“Glad to be.”

Jongdae checked his watch. “Shoot, I gotta run. Taeyong, take care of our little hero here. He had a knife thrown at him, he deserves the royalty treatment.”

“Bye, Jongdae, thanks for coming,” Kyungsoo replied, watching the man leave.

In a sudden movement, Taeyong immediately slid the door close, peering outside for a brief moment. He turned around, facing Kyungsoo with a worried look.

“Where’s Irene?” Kyungsoo asked, expecting a real answer.

“She’s fine, she wasn’t hurt too bad, a few cuts and bruises,” Taeyong reported, approaching the bed.

Another knock came in and a familiar face stepped in.

“Jane?” Kyungsoo called, confused. She was dressed as a nurse and was sporting a long haired wig. Placing a finger on her lips, she warned Kyungsoo to stay quiet as she closed the door.

“Kyungsoo, we need to tell you something,” Taeyong began and Kyungsoo was taken aback. “We? You guys know each other?”

Jane spoke next. “Just a few hours ago but that’s not important right now. We managed to destroy Chemical X and also free the mutants from the facility.” 

“That’s great, how did they do it? Where are the escapees now?” 

“Sooyoung used her power to flood the labs with glue while Yixing froze everything afterwards. The machines and lab equipment started breaking into pieces. We placed them in a safehouse, far away from the city.”

Kyungsoo couldn’t resist asking.

“Where’s Baekhyun?”

“That’s the thing, boss. We don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? He was with me.”

“See, we figured that too but he wasn’t. I found you passed out in the main control room, alone. There was no one else except for the dead man,” Jane said with uncertainty, playing with the edges of her sleeves.

Thinking hard, Kyungsoo tried to recall the moments before he fainted. It came to him, he remembered hearing footsteps.

“Fuck, he’s been abducted, hasn’t he?”

“That’s our bet and we can’t even go back to the facility to investigate. Everything in there started overheating and the whole building was burned down.”

Kyungsoo bit his lip. “That explains why Jongdae thought I was trapped in a fire. Speaking of Jongdae, who told him that Irene and I were involved with the restaurant?”

“I did, boss, it was the only excuse I could come up with,” Taeyong said with a sheepish smile.

“No, no. It was a genius excuse, we’re lucky that the incident occurred around the same time we were carrying out the mission.”

“Do you have any idea who kidnapped Baekhyun?” His assistant inquired.  

“Well, for sure, it’s someone from NCT, Baekhyun has been their target for years now.”

“Why him though? What’s his ability?” 

“He can shapeshift into anyone. But that’s not only the extent of his powers, he can do partial morphing, he can duplicate a person's voice, retina pattern or fingerprint,” Kyungsoo recited, Baekhyun had told him everything about his strengths and weaknesses.

Taeyong pursed his lips, thinking.

“How the hell are we gonna find Baekhyun? We don’t even know what they’re gonna do to him,” Jane voiced out worriedly.

“Boss, based on all the evidence we’ve gathered so far, NCT doesn’t only kill mutants, they experiment on them too. But for what reason?”

Kyungsoo’s brain also started gearing, forming assumptions. “We’ve assumed NCT wants to control their power using Chemical X. It’s an agglutinogen which also attacks the mutated cells, shutting them down.” 

“What if NCT didn’t plan to kill them? I mean, look, they would go that far to plant those bullets in those victims as a method to hide their mistakes?” Taeyong continued on. 

Jane interrupted, she was getting the gist of it. “Yet we also found more mutants, alive ones, in that facility, unhurt but terribly weak.” 

“We need to talk to one of them,” Kyungsoo declared, they were so close to the truth. 

“Tricky, Sehun and Mina have already taken them to the safehouse and it takes four hours to reach there.” 

“We can do a video call interview?” Taeyong suggested. 

Jane snapped her fingers. “You’re right, I’m on it.”

  

Moments later, they had set up a call using Taeyong’s work laptop. They first saw Sehun’s face on the screen, waving in greeting.

“We saved around twenty people from that facility but you guys, they’re still scared, no one wants to talk,” Sehun informed with a frown. Sooyoung popped out from his left with the same expression, sighing in agreement. 

“We’ve managed to convince them that we’re good people but those bastards from NCT must have trained them to stay quiet at all times. Judging from the bruises on their faces and arms, they were beaten up badly.”

Kyungsoo started biting his fingernail, a bad habit coming back to life whenever he feels terribly stumped.

“Forcing them won’t do either of us good as well.”

Sehun nodded. “I don’t know how-”

“I-I can talk.” 

Everyone froze when they heard a voice coming from behind Sehun and Sooyoung. The both of them parted from the screen, revealing a face who was familiar to Kyungsoo. 

“It’s you,” he said, smiling in relief at the young boy. The latter bowed nervously, rubbing his shaking palms together. Sooyoung placed a hand on his shoulder, encouraging him to come forth. They all felt a pang of pain in their hearts, the boy’s face was too pale and his hair was messily shaved.

There were faint blue and black marks and slight skin discolouration all over his body, his injuries were healing.

Kyungsoo introduced himself. “I’m Kyungsoo, these are my friends, Taeyong and Jane. What’s your name?”

“Daniel.”

“Nice to meet you, Daniel.”

“T-Thank y-you again for s-saving us,” he began, wincing at his own voice. It sounded like it hasn’t been used in a long time, his voice sounding harsh and croaked.  

“You don’t need to thank us,” Sehun pointed out, petting the boy’s head gently.

The boy’s eyes were starting to tear up. “I r-really do. If you guys hadn’t c-come, I would have been n-next.”

“Next?” Taeyong asked.

The boy nodded, answering his question. “T-They study us one by one, they have a s-schedule. To keep check on us. I-I was next in line.”

Kyungsoo’s eyebrows furrowed in concern. “If you don’t mind me asking, Daniel, mind telling us what you mean by _studying_ you?”

Daniel’s breathing became labored, he was on the verge of a panic attack. “I-I don’t think it’s important to all of you right now.”

Sooyoung rubbed his back, soothing him. “Dear, don’t say that. Of course, it’s important. We want to take down those people who had hurt you.”

He quickly shook his head. “T-That’s not what I meant! Mr. Kyungsoo, y-your friend, he’s in grave danger!”

Kyungsoo’s eyes immediately zeroed into Daniel’s face. “What friend?”

“The one you were with when you tried to free me! H-He took him!” He yelled through the screen, shoulders quivering in fear.

“Who’s he, dear?” Sooyoung asked, exchanging wary glances with Sehun. 

“The leader of NCT.”

It was obvious that everyone was stunned, their eyes widening in shock. 

“NCT’s boss took Baekhyun?” Taeyong questioned, suspicion arising in his voice.

Daniel nodded, biting his lips. “Y-You have to save him, or else he’s going to die!” 

Willing himself to not jump off bed and hopping into the next available taxi, Kyungsoo took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Can you describe him to me?” 

“Um, I-I don’t know how to say it, he’s around your f-friend’s height? B-brown hair and he always smiles. When he smiles, it usually means something bad is gonna happen.” Daniel paused. 

“I’m scared of his smile.”

Sehun interrupted, showing his phone. “I’m contacting Woozi, he can read minds, we’ll conduct a visual sketch of the man.”

“How are we gonna get him here now? It takes four hours, remember?” Sooyoung stated. 

Daniel raised his arm, his eyes shining with an answer they all needed. “One of the prisoners can teleport!”

“Who? Will he able to aid us, he might be weak right now.”

“Don’t worry, Jongin’s actually the strongest out of all of us, I can talk to him. He’ll definitely help us!” 

Sehun looked at Kyungsoo, his image getting a bit blurry. “Okay, I’ll call Woozi now.”

As Sehun removed himself from the screen, Kyungsoo proceeded with the questions. 

“How did he take my friend away, Daniel? Do you know to where?”

“Your friend went with him willingly, I saw them walking past my cell, a gun aimed at his head. And if I’m not mistaken, he’s gonna take your friend to a place we all call the Raft.” 

A revelation was made to Kyungsoo at that certain point and the message was probably also sent to the others as well.

 

_Baekhyun was going to die._

 

“Sooyoung, take Daniel to Jongin now,” Kyungsoo instructed, ready to end the call.

“Thank you for talking to us, Daniel, I know you’re still scared but today, you’re the most courageous boy I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting,” he looked at the young boy with gratitude.

“I hope you find your friend, Mr. Kyungsoo,” Daniel wished them sincerely, waving farewell. Sooyoung mouthed good luck to the three of them, ending the video call.

“There’s a rat among us, we were right,” Taeyong said without hesitation, storing his laptop away.  

“How the forged reports and documents were able to bypass the system make sense too. Shit, we need to locate Baekhyun now.” Kyungsoo wanted to scream, intent on killing on whoever was trying to end Baekhyun’s live on their own accord.

“Are you saying NCT is working with the government? And they’re fucking gonna send him _there_ ? _The Raft_?” Jane voiced out angrily, seething in rage.

“The Raft. A super maximum security prison for super-powered criminals. We all know Baekhyun isn’t one.”

“We’re not sure if NCT is on the right side of the law. Experimentations on mutants are still being held, but killing them afterwards? That’s illegal. Um, no offense, Jane,” Taeyong explained, giving an apologetic smile.

“None taken. Kyungsoo, this means that the leader saw your face. But why were you spared? And why was Baekhyun followed him willingly?”

Kyungsoo felt like crying.

“Because Baekhyun didn’t want me to get hurt. He knew I was still alive even after I passed out.”

“The leader threatened him using you,” Taeyong said grimly.

“Taeyong, ask them to discharge me now. I want to go back to the agency, I need to think.”

“But, boss, you’re still weak-”

“It’s an order, do it now.”

  

X

 

**_[11.26AM, National Police Agency, Seodamun, South Korea]_ **

 

Kyungsoo’s legs were still feeble from being in a short coma. Thus, they had to bring him into the agency using a wheelchair. Ignoring the strange stares and shocked faces from passer-bys, he urged Taeyong to wheel him into the elevator as fast as he could.

“Irene’s office,” he ordered, Taeyong steering him into the main lab.

His assistant switched on the main switch before opening Irene’s door for him.

“What are you looking for boss?”

“Something that could help us find where Baekhyun is right now. It takes three days to reach the prison, since it’s far offshore and underwater too. He should be either kept somewhere first or is already in transit.” 

He got off his wheelchair, ignoring the pain across his chest. Seating himself on Irene’s chair, he opened one of the office desk drawers.  

“Taeyong, get me the files of the four victims. Minseok, Seongwoo, Narae and Miyamoto.”

“On it.” His assistant rushed out the door, heeding his instructions speedily. Meanwhile, he turned on Irene’s desktop, leaving it as it is.

Kyungsoo reached for the folders listing the mutants that NCT had declared as deceased, going through them once again. He had the strongest feeling they were all missing something and usually his intuition was spot on.  

“Boss, here,” Taeyong came dashing in, laying the files out in order on the table for easier observation.

“Hang them up, their faces and pictures of their bodies next to each other, mark the time and dates too,” he requested - there was a bulletin board in Irene’s office.

The next few minutes were in silence, both of them scrutinizing the lists and pictures.  

“They’re mocking us,” Taeyong concluded, crossing his arms in disgust.

“The pictures Mr. Song were holding does seem to be quite ridiculing. Their bodies have been positioned in a way to make the victims look like they were pleading for help till the end.”

“NCT’s leader is one sick man.”

“And a man of the law too. Or so we thought.”

“You really think there’s a mole in the agency too?” 

“It’s quite unnerving to know that I wasn’t immediately killed. From these photos, the man is clearly a sadist. The moment he took a hold of Baekhyun, I should have been shot without any remorse.” 

“So how did you survive, really.” 

“The man must have seen me before. Or worse.”

“Are you saying that the head of NCT knows you? Like _personally?_ ”

“Perhaps not personally, but we are aware of each other.” 

“You really can’t trust anyone so easily anymore, huh.”

Kyungsoo’s phone vibrated, indicating an incoming call. It was an unknown number but Kyungsoo picked it up anyway. 

“Hello, Kyungsoo speaking.”

“Hey, Kyungsoo it’s me, Sehun. We got an image of NCT’s boss, luckily, Sooyoung’s a good sketch artist. Scanning the picture right now, we’re gonna send it to your email.”

Kyungsoo’s heart started beating rapidly all of the sudden.

“How does he look like?”

Sehun chuckled. “Impatient, aren’t we? But we were a bit surprised, he’s pretty young to be the head of a mutant killing organisation. But hey, psychopaths start from an early age I guess.”

The firearms expert glanced at his assistant who started pinning some of the photos next to each other, his eyes squinted and mouth pursed. Taeyong pressed his fingers against one picture of a woman who had been beheaded, leaning towards it.

Kyungsoo continued talking to Sehun. “Hopefully, we can find Baekhyun quicker this way.”

“We’re so close to finding the mastermind of all this bullshit,” Sehun replied, abhorrence and also worry etched in his voice.

Kyungsoo looked at Taeyong again. The latter suddenly pulled out a mini flashlight, leaving Kyungsoo puzzled. 

“Sent!” He heard Woozi’s voice from the other end of the line.

“You heard that, Kyungsoo? Check your email now.”

“Okay, thanks, I’ll call you later if anything springs up.”

Hurriedly opening his email on Irene’s desktop, he clicked on the first message in his inbox to download the scanned sketch.

The moment the photo was about to load on the screen, he heard Taeyong abruptly shout.

“What, what?!” He asked, staring at the other.

Taeyong held a picture up. “We missed something important, alright.”

Kyungsoo looked at the screen. 

“We sure as hell did.”

Kyungsoo picked up his phone again, dialing a number. Around twenty seconds passed before it was answered.

 

“Hey, let’s meet up.”

 

X

 

**_[Abandoned building, somewhere in Seoul]_ **

 

“So you’ve figured it out.”

Kyungsoo had a gun aimed at the other, expression blank.

“All these years, huh?” Kyungsoo asked, scoffing afterwards.

 

Jongdae grinned.

  

“I knew that brilliant brain of yours was dangerous.”

  

He pulled the safety trigger off, his eyes concentrating on the leader of NCT.

“So what gave it away?”

“That damn star you mark on your photos, Jongdae. We used a flashlight to reveal the stamp.”

“Ah, so it was my own fault. Perhaps, I was a bit too bold in telling you about that.”

“Where are you keeping Baekhyun? Hand him over to me this instant.”

Jongdae tilted his head, giving a playful smile. Daniel was right, that smile was creepy, how didn’t Kyungsoo notice until now?

“You’re no fun, Kyungsoo. Come on, don’t you have any other questions for me?”

Rolling his eyes, he decided to play along. 

“Fine. When did you start killing mutants?”

“There we go. Oh, and that’s easy, ever since my father died. You see, he was murdered right in front of me. In our own house.”

“I’m guessing a mutant killed him?” 

Jongdae clapped. “Bravo, Kyungsoo.” Then his eyes hardened, expression turning bitter and sour.

“She set my dad on fire. I was only six.”

“That doesn’t make it right for you to kill others as revenge, Jongdae.”

The other cackled. “Who said anything about it being right? Mutants, those freaks, they’re _despicable_. All of them should die, in my opinion.” 

“But you’re shipping some of them to the Raft, why?”

“Ah, well, I decided that killing the really powerful ones would be a terrible waste. I mean, ending their lives is too easy, no? Sending them to the prison, locked away forever, that’s the best kind of torture. They’d be wishing I had killed them.”

“You’re gonna do the same to Baekhyun?” Kyungsoo prompted, lowering his gun slightly.

“Hah, Baekhyun. Your precious boyfriend, am I correct?” Jongdae smirked, knowing he had hit a nerve. 

“Oh, Kyungsoo, your lover boy is a special case. I’ve never met someone with his ability. Shapeshifting? It can be an incredibly powerful tool if it falls into the wrong hands.”

“What the fuck are you trying to say?”

“Language, Kyungsoo! You see, I want his shapeshifting power for myself. Specifically, his shapeshifting cells.” 

“Partial morphing,” Kyungsoo only said, realisation dawning on him.

“The genius strikes again. Partial morphing indeed. By extracting his cells, I can mass produce them, transferring them to automatons.”

“And they’ll channel his ability, the power to adapt to anything, to _anyone_.”

“I’m amazing, aren’t I? I’m calling them the Sentinels, an army of shapeshifting androids. Imagine, a mutant who could project frostbite. The Sentinel can counterattack by producing flames, killing the mutant.” 

“You’ve been collecting their DNA this whole time,” Kyungsoo stated, referring to the mutants who had been imprisoned in the facility.

“Ah, my beautiful ZION. That’s what I named that place by the way. A shame, you and your friends burned it down. I was pissed...till I found you both in that room.”

Kyungsoo lifted his gun again, racking it.

“Which leads us back to my first question. Where is he?” 

“It was so easy to threaten Baekhyun all over again. Did you know, two years ago, I almost caught him? I was so damn close. But when I found out you guys were together, I made a deal with your boyfriend. Of course, he didn’t know I worked with you, I sent someone to tell him.” 

Kyungsoo’s blood went cold.

“In exchange for your safety, he had to come with me. Alas, I was fooled. He managed to disappear, carefully cleared all of his tracks. I was tempted to just kidnap and interrogate you, Kyungsoo, but it was still too early. At that time, NCT was a one man’s job and that man was only me.”

“And now, you expanded it into a whole organisation, even got Mr. Song to fund your illegal research.” 

Suddenly, an army of people barged in, all masked and armed with weapons. Kyungsoo cursed internally, he should have known there was bound to be a trap.

“Mr. Song’s generous contribution is about to end soon. In fact, your life is about to as well,” Jongdae said with a smile, winking at him.

His subordinates raised their firearms, ready to shoot Kyungsoo.

“I don’t think so, Jongdae,” he smiled back, confusing the other.

  

“Jane, now!”

 

Behind Kyungsoo, a huge group of mutants materialised, the resistance now joined by newly recruited members.  

“Shit,” Jongdae cursed, turning around. “Kill all of them!” 

Once again, they were in a war, fighting for their lives, for the peace of the city.

Kyungsoo caught sight of Jongdae walking away, accompanied by two guards.

“I’m going after him,” he told Jane over the noise, who nodded. Chanyeol ran up to him, holding a gun as well.

“I’m coming with you.”

 

Together, they began tailing Jongdae, keeping a distance to avoid detection. They could hear Jongdae ranting, his loud voice bouncing off the walls of the hallway. 

“Ugh, I can’t believe I didn’t see that coming. Jane, was it? I want her. C’mon, let’s head to my house now. We need to start the extraction soon.” 

That was enough information for Kyungsoo to step out from the shadows. He signalled Chanyeol to remain hidden to which the man nodded.

“Stop right there, Jongdae." 

The guards straight away raised their guns but Jongdae stopped them. 

“You kill me now, Kyungsoo and you’ll never see Baekhyun again.” 

“Like you were gonna tell me in the first place.”

 “Shoot him.”

 

In that split second, Kyungsoo caught a glimpse of someone familiar, of someone only he could recognise.

One of the guards kicked the other in the stomach, making him drop the gun. Quickly kicking away the weapon, he knocked the man’s head with the hilt of his own gun.  

“What-” Before Jongdae could continue his sentence, the guard twisted his arms to the back, halting his movement.

“Ow!”

Chanyeol joined Kyungsoo, his gun still aimed at NCT’s leader.

“Who’s that?”

Kyungsoo tossed his gun away, running as fast as he could. Chanyeol was right behind him but he didn’t care.

  

Baekhyun was here.

 

 He literally jumped on the shapeshifter, hugging him tightly. Fortunately, Chanyeol managed to take hold of Jongdae, who had a mortified look on his face. 

“Kyungsoo be careful, you’re still wrapped up,” Baekhyun chastised gently, hugging him back. Kyungsoo ripped off the face mask he was wearing, watching as the man transformed back into himself. 

Baekhyun’s handsome smile appeared and Kyungsoo felt like he was falling for it all over again.

“How the hell did you escape?!” Jongdae yelled, struggling in Chanyeol’s strong hold.

The both of them parted and the shapeshifter gave a side smirk. 

“Your guards underestimated me too much,” he only responded, cracking his knuckles.

“Chanyeol, if you may,” Kyungsoo welcomed with open arms.

The man nodded, storing his gun away. “With all my pleasure.”

Chanyeol dragged Jongdae to a vertical pipeline while Kyungsoo handed him a pair of handcuffs. Chaining the leader of NCT to it, Chanyeol placed his palms on his head. 

“W-What are you doing to me? Let me go!”

“We’re serving everyone the justice they’ve been asking for,” Kyungsoo answered.

“In the name of our fallen friends, you’re going to get the punishment you deserve,” Baekhyun added. 

“My men will kill all of you!” Jongdae threatened one last time but he was obviously not entirely convinced himself. 

“As I said, you underestimate us too much. Chanyeol, do it.”

“D-Do what?”

Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes. “Goodbye, Jongdae. See you in jail.”

“Sleep,” Chanyeol ordered.

The head of NCT - the head of the organisation that had resulted in suffering and pain amongst them, who had caused Kyungsoo to lose someone he once loved - closed his eyes and finally drifted off into a slumber.

Kyungsoo helped to unlock the handcuffs, letting Jongdae’s arms fall to his side.

“When you wake up, NCT will cease to exist. You will make yourself to be a killer of mutants and have been doing it by yourself since your father passed away. You have no men, no ZION, no connections to The Raft. You will leave this building, surrender yourself to the nearest police station and be taken away to jail for life.” 

Chanyeol inhaled. “I release you.”

Jongdae woke up, eyes blinking slowly. He got up and walked past them as if they were invisible, as they didn’t exist to him.

Then, they heard running from behind them. 

“Hey,” Sehun spoke first, their friends all present. 

“What happened with Jongdae’s men?”

“Let’s just say I transported some of them somewhere else,” Jongin replied, an arm across Daniel’s shoulder.

“Oh, I didn’t know we recruited new members,” Baekhyun smiled, shaking Jongin’s hand.

“We have a mind controller here and she altered the remaining men’s memories. They’ll wake up soon,” Sooyoung explained, encouraging the girl to come forth.

“My powers don’t extend to time manipulation like Chanyeol’s but I did my best,” she uttered shyly.

"By itself, your power is already incredible," Baekhyun praised.

“Glad you’re alive, Baekhyun. We were worried sick,” Junmyeon came up to him, giving the latter a brief hug.

Mark nodded. “Saves us the time to save you too,” he said, making all of them laugh and cheer.

Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun wrapped an arm around Kyungsoo’s waist. Kyungsoo looked at him with an amused expression.

“C’mon, let’s leave. I need to get this clearly injured man to the hospital,” Baekhyun chided. 

Sehun snickered. “Busted.”

As they started walking, Kyungsoo held Baekhyun’s hand briefly, squeezing it. 

“You don’t have to do it anymore.” 

“Hmm, do what?”  

“Explain to me why you left. I’m an idiot for not understanding your situation at that time.” 

Baekhyun sighed, clinging onto Kyungsoo tighter. “You were right, though. I should have taken you with me.”

Kyungsoo shook his head. “No, if I were you, I probably would have done the same thing.”

 Turning to Kyungsoo, he placed his hands on his shoulders, looking at Kyungsoo with an affectionate manner. 

“I still want to talk about it. Would you still hear me out?”

Kyungsoo was mesmerised. 

“Yeah, okay.”

 

X

 

**_[Three months later, Kyungsoo’s apartment]_ **

 

Baekhyun was still singing the stupid song in the shower again. But Kyungsoo meant it in a lovingly way, of course.

It had taken them three months to talk everything through.

Two years was a long time. Kyungsoo had hated Baekhyun in that span of time, feeling bitter and confused everytime he woke up.  

They didn’t immediately get back together again, the attraction was still there but Kyungsoo had developed a fear of Baekhyun leaving him again. The other had understood him, deciding that he would wait for Kyungsoo to reciprocate his feelings.  

It was like falling in love with Baekhyun for the second time.

He had courted Kyungsoo just like he had before, but this time, with less awkward ramblings and more romantic dates during the weekends. 

After Jongdae was sent to prison, Kyungsoo still had work but Irene cut him some slack, after all, he was stabbed and managed to survive. More cases popped up as of late but Taeyong was improving. Most of the time, he didn’t even need to seek for Kyungsoo’s approval, submitting his reports directly to Irene. 

Baekhyun had also decided to resign as the resistance’s leader, opting to spend his leisure time with Kyungsoo.

 

_“I’m tired of being in hiding and I don’t want you to follow the same path.”_

 

_“But who will lead them now? You’re a great leader, Baekhyun.”_

 

_“Ironically, Junmyeon. And personally, I think he would make an even greater one.”_

 

The shapeshifter landed a job at Berkeley Coffee Social as a cashier, the cafe Kyungsoo loved to frequent before he headed to work. It was also the place they had their first date two years ago.

Kyungsoo was thinking of yesterday’s date at the art gallery when Baekhyun stepped outside the bathroom, only dressed in a bathrobe.

“Hey, you,” Baekhyun said sweetly, walking towards him. He stood in front of Kyungsoo who was sitting at the edge of the bed, ruffling his hair. 

He smiled, eyes looking up to Baekhyun, gleaming with love. “Hey.” 

“You look happy. What were you thinking about?” 

“Mmm, our date last night.”

It was Baekhyun’s turn to give him a loving smile. “It was fun, right? And we didn’t even get chased this time.” Kyungsoo only laughed, wrapping his arms around Baekhyun’s waist.

“I can’t believe you chose to shapeshift into the artist himself. Did you even know what you were saying to those buyers?”

Baekhyun leaned down, kissing Kyungsoo’s forehead. “These people suck everything in like a leech. I could present a pair of glasses embedded with glitter to them and call it modern art. They’ll believe me.”

In a burst of courage, Kyungsoo pulled Baekhyun down, letting the latter fall on top of him. They were lying in bed now and Baekhyun gave an amused look.

“What do you want from me?” Baekhyun asked playfully, sliding a finger from Kyungsoo’s forehead down to his lips. Kyungsoo lifted his head up, pressing their lips against each other.

Baekhyun moaned, letting his hand cradle Kyungsoo’s cheek. Embracing the other, Kyungsoo kissed him harder, a hand probing under Baekhyun’s bathrobe. His chest was a bit wet from the shower but it was comfortably warm.

The latter pulled away for a moment, drawing out a whine from Kyungsoo. Baekhyun only chuckled, pecking his lips.

“Let me wear my pajamas first then we can continue.”

Kyungsoo stared.

“Why do you need to when I’m about to take off mine?”

Baekhyun’s smile was bright, his eyes sharp in the dark.

“Just let me say this first.”

“Okay, hurry up.”

He brought Kyungsoo’s palm to his lips, kissing it lightly, affectionately.

“I love you, Soo.” 

And Kyungsoo knew that when he woke up the next day, Baekhyun was still going to be there.

“I love you too, Baek.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> uwus for you


End file.
